Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Module or panel having discrete edgewise or face-to-face... – Having integral key
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-18
2003-01-28
Callo, Laura A. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Module or panel having discrete edgewise or face-to-face...
Having integral key
C052S592200, C052S592400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06510665
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention generally relates to the field of mechanical locking of floorboards. The invention relates to an improved locking system for mechanical locking of floorboards, a floorboard provided with such an improved locking system, a flooring made of such mechanically joined floorboards, and a method for making such floorboards. The invention generally relates to an improvement of a locking system of the type described and shown in WO 94/26999 and WO 99/66151.
More specifically, the invention relates to a locking system for mechanical joining of floorboards of the type having a body and preferably a surface layer on the upper side of the body and a balancing layer on the rear side of the body, said locking system comprising: (i) for horizontal joining of a first and a second joint edge portion of a first and a second floorboard respectively at a vertical joint plane, on the one hand a locking groove which is formed in the underside of said second board and extends parallel with and at a distance from said vertical joint plane at said second joint edge and, on the other hand, a strip integrally formed with the body of said first board, which strip at said first joint edge projects from said vertical joint plane and supports a locking element, which projects towards a plane containing the upper side of said first floorboard and which has a locking surface for coaction with said locking groove, and (ii) for vertical joining of the first and second joint edge, on the one hand a tongue which at least partly projects and extends from the joint plane and, on the other hand, a tongue groove adapted to coact with said tongue, the first and second floorboards within their joint edge portions for the vertical joining having coacting upper and coacting lower contact surfaces, of which at least the upper comprise surface portions in said tongue groove and said tongue.
FIELD OF APPLICATION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is particularly suitable for mechanical joining of thin floating floorboards made up of an upper surface layer, an intermediate fibreboard body and a lower balancing layer, such as laminate flooring and veneer flooring with a fibreboard body. Therefore, the following description of the state of the art, problems associated with known systems, and the objects and features of the invention will, as a non-restricting example, focus on this field of application and, in particular, on rectangular floorboards with dimensions of about 1.2 m* 0.2 m and a thickness of about 7-10 mm, intended to be mechanically joined at the long side as well as the short side.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Thin laminate flooring and wood veneer flooring are usually composed of a body consisting of a 6-9 mm fibreboard, a 0.20-0.8 mm thick upper surface layer and a 0.1-0.6 mm thick lower balancing layer. The surface layer provides appearance and durability to the floorboards. The body provides stability and the balancing layer keeps the board level when the relative humidity (RH) varies during the year. The RH can vary between 15% and 90%. Conventional floorboards of the type are usually joined by means of glued tongue-and-groove joints (i.e. joints involving a tongue on a floorboard and a tongue groove on an adjoining floorboard) at the long and short sides. When laying the floor, the boards are brought together horizontally, whereby a projecting tongue along the joint edge of a first board is introduced into a tongue groove along the joint edge of the second adjoining board. The same method is used at the long side as well as the short side. The tongue and the tongue groove are designed for such horizontal joining only and with special regard to how glue pockets and gluing surfaces should be designed to enable the tongue to be efficiently glued within the tongue groove. The tongue-and-groove joint presents coacting upper and lower contact surfaces that position the boards vertically in order to ensure a level surface of the finished floor.
In addition to such conventional floors, which are connected by means of glued tongue-and-groove joints, floorboards have recently been developed which are instead mechanically joined and which do not require the use of glue. This type of mechanical joint system is hereinafter referred to as a “strip-lock system”, since the most characteristic component of this system is a projecting strip which supports a locking element.
WO 94/26999 and WO88/66151 (owner Välinge Aluminium AB) disclose a strip-lock system for joining building panels, particularly floorboards. This locking system allows the boards to be locked mechanically at right angles to as well as parallel with the principal plane of the boards at the long side as well as at the short side. Methods for making such floorboards are disclosed in EP 0958441 and EP 0958442 (owner Välinge Aluminium AB). The basic principles of the design and the installation of the floorboards, as well as the methods for making the same, as described in the four above-mentioned documents are usable for the present invention as well, and therefore these documents are hereby incorporated by reference.
In order to facilitate the understanding and description of the present invention, as well as the comprehension of the problems underlying the invention, brief description of the basic design and function of the known floorboards according to the above-mentioned WO 94/26999 and WO 99/66151 will be given below with reference to
FIGS. 1-3
in the accompanying drawings. Where applicable, the following description of the prior art also applies to the embodiments of the present invention described below.
FIGS. 3
a
and
3
b
are thus a top view and a bottom view respectively of a known floorboard
1
. The board
1
is rectangular with a top side
2
, an underside
3
, two opposite long sides
4
a
,
4
b
forming joint edge portions and two opposite short sides
5
a
,
5
b
forming joint edge portions.
Without the use of the glue, both the long sides
4
a
,
4
b
and the short sides
5
a
,
5
b
can be joined mechanically in a direction D
2
in
FIG. 1
c
, so that they join in a joint plane F (marked in
FIG. 2
c
). For this purpose, the board
1
has a flat strip
6
, mounted at the factory, projecting horizontally from its one long side
4
a
, which strip extends throughout the length of the long side
4
a
and which is made of flexible, resilient sheet aluminium. The strip
6
can be fixed mechanically according to the embodiment shown, or by means of glue, or in some other way. Other strip materials can be used, such as sheets of other metals, as well as aluminium or plastic sections. Alternatively, the strip
6
may be made in one piece with the board
1
, for example by suitable working of the body of the board
1
. The present invention is usable for floorboards in which the strip is integrally formed with the body and solves special problems appearing in such floorboards and the making thereof. The body of the floorboard need not be, but is preferably, made of a uniform material. However, the strip
6
is always integrated with the board
1
, i.e. it is never mounted on the board
1
in connection with the laying of the floor but it is mounted or formed at the factory. The width of the strip
6
can be about 30 mm and its thickness about 0.5 mm. A similar, but shorter strip
6
is provided along one short side
5
a
of the board
1
. The part of the strip
6
projecting from the joint plane F is formed with a locking element
8
extended throughout the length of the strip
6
. The locking element
8
has an operative locking surface
10
facing the joint plane F and having a height of e.g. 0.5 mm. When the floor is being laid, this locking surface
10
coacts with a locking groove
14
formed in the underside
3
of the joint edge portion
4
b
of the opposite long side of an adjoining board
1
′. The short side strip
6
′ is provided with a corresponding locking element
8
′, and the joint edge portion
5
b
of the opposite short side has a corresponding locking groove
14
′. The edge
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Callo Laura A.
Valinge Aluminum AB
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