Road structure – process – or apparatus – Pavement – Modules or blocks
Reexamination Certificate
2003-05-21
2004-08-03
Will, Thomas B. (Department: 3671)
Road structure, process, or apparatus
Pavement
Modules or blocks
C052S392000, C052S589100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06769835
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a floor board of elongated rectangular shape, which comprises coupling means at its lateral edges and which is arranged to be connected to other similar floor boards to form a floor, which is made up of a plurality of adjacent, parallel rows of juxtaposed floor boards and in which the floor boards of one and the same row are interconnected short side to short side and the floor boards of adjacent rows are interconnected long side to long side, the coupling means being composed of a first pair of coupling means consisting of a female coupling means and a male coupling means, which extend along the one and the other long side edges of the floor board, respectively, and a second pair of coupling means consisting of a female coupling means and a male coupling means, which extend along the one and the other short sides of the floor board, respectively.
BACKGROUND ART
In common, prior-art floor boards of this type, the female coupling means consist of grooves and the male coupling means of tongues (or feathers). A laterally open groove is formed in one of the long side faces of the floor board, and a laterally open groove is formed in one of its short side faces, the two grooves extending along the board's entire length and width, respectively. A laterally projecting tongue is formed on the other long side face of the floor board, and a laterally projecting tongue is formed on its other short side face, the two tongues extending substantially along the board's entire length and width, respectively. These floor boards are intended to be interconnected so as to form a floor. For this purpose, the tongues of a floor board are inserted horizontally into a long side groove of another floor board and into a short side groove of yet another floor board. The dimensions of the grooves and tongues are chosen so that the tongues are insertable into the grooves with a very tight fit. Before the tongues are inserted into the grooves, glue is applied in the grooves. The grooves and tongues provide a relative locking of the interconnected floor boards perpendicularly to the floor level, and the glue causes a relative locking parallel to the floor level.
The floor boards described above have several disadvantages. An important disadvantage is that once the floor has been installed it cannot be taken up without the floor boards being damaged. Thus, the floor boards cannot be reused once they have been taken up. Another disadvantage, caused by the tight fit between groove and tongue, is that it might be difficult to insert the tongues into the corresponding grooves, and that it may therefore be necessary to use tools to knock the floor boards into an interconnected position without any gap between the boards. This entails a considerable risk of the floor boards being damaged. A further disadvantage is that glue has to be used in the installation of the floor, which is not only difficult but also time-consuming.
In other prior-art floor boards, some of these disadvantages have been eliminated by dimensioning the grooves and tongues so that it is relatively easy to insert the tongues into the grooves. To interconnect these floor boards different kinds of clips are used, said clips being placed under two juxtaposed floor boards in such manner that they engage in grooves on the under-side of the floor boards by means of upwardly projecting protrusions. This solution allows an installed floor to be taken up in such manner that the floor boards may be reused. A disadvantage of the solution is, however, that loose parts in the form of clips need to be assembled during installation of the floor and that it implies a relatively difficult adjustment of the floor boards with regard to groove-tongue and clips-clip grooves.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a floor board which is designed so as. to allow a floor to be installed in an extremely simple manner and without using loose parts or glue by means of a plurality of such similar floor boards and to make it possible to take up the floor boards and reuse them.
According to the invention, this object is achieved with a floor board of the type described by way of introduction, which is characterized in that the female coupling means in at least one, of said two pairs of coupling means comprises a first coupling element, which projects laterally from said one long side edge/short side edge and extends along this edge at a level below the upper surface of the floor board and which has an upwardly open groove extending along the first coupling element and an upper portion with a lower surface, which extends obliquely upwards and over the groove a short distance from the inner limiting wall thereof so as to form a stop, that the male coupling means in said one pair of coupling means comprises a second coupling element, which has substantially the shape of an upwardly open V and which extends along said other long side edge/short side edge in a longitudinal recess formed in the lower portion thereof, the outer V-leg of the second coupling element being springingly foldable in the direction of the inner V-leg of the second coupling element, and that the external V-shape of the second coupling element in its nondeformed state is substantially complementary to the shape of the groove of the first coupling element, the two coupling elements being located in such manner that, when interconnecting two similar floor boards, the groove in the first coupling element of one of the floor boards is situated directly under the substantially V-shaped second coupling element of the other floor board when the floor boards are in such a position relative to each other that their side edges facing each other are vertically aligned, and the two floor boards being inter-connectible by pressing the second coupling element of said other floor board down into the first coupling element of said one floor board, whereby the outer V-leg of the second coupling element is springingly folded, said V-leg springing back to its initial position and snapping in under said stop once the second coupling element has been inserted into the first coupling element.
The upper portion of the outer V-leg of the second coupling element projects laterally from said other long side edge/short side edge.
The female coupling means and the male coupling means preferably comprise a first and a second plastic section, respectively, having a flange which projects laterally from the first and the second coupling element, respectively, and which is mounted in a first and a second notch, respectively, formed at said one and said other long side edge/short side edge, respectively.
The flanges may be mounted in the respective notches by means of glue. The flange of both the first and the second plastic section is suitably provided with longitudinal, glue-receiving ducts that are substantially rectangular in cross section.
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Pechhold Alexandra K.
Tarkett Sommer AB
Will Thomas B.
LandOfFree
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