Patent Grant
11053691
The invention generally relates to the field of floor panels with mechanical locking systems with a flexible and displaceable tongue allowing easy installation. The invention provides new improved locking systems and installation methods.
In particular, yet not restrictive manner, the invention concerns a mechanical locking system for rectangular floor panels with long and short edges. It should be emphasized that long and short edges are only used to simplify the description. The panels could also be square. However, the invention is as well applicable to building panels in general. More particularly the invention relates to the type of mechanically locking systems which allow that all four edges of a panel could be locked to other panels by a single angling action preferably comprising a flexible or partly flexible tongue and/or displaceable tongue and/or a flexible locking strip in order to facilitate the installation of building panels.
A floor panel of this type is presented in WO2006/043893, which discloses a floor panel with a locking system comprising a locking element cooperating with a locking groove, for horizontal locking, and a flexible tongue cooperating with a tongue groove, for locking in a vertical direction. The flexible tongue bends in the horizontal plane during connection of the floor panels and makes it possible to install the panels by vertical folding or solely by vertical movement. By “vertical folding” is meant a connection of three panels where a first and second panel are in a connected state and where a single angling action of a new panel referred to as the “folding panel”, connects two perpendicular edges of the new panel, at the same time, to the first and second panel. Such a connection takes place for example when a long edge of the first panel in a first row is already connected to a long edge of a second panel in a second row. The new folding panel is then connected by angling to the long edge of the first panel in the first row. This specific type of angling action, which also connects the short edge of the new folding panel and second panel, is referred to as “vertical folding”. The short edges are gradually folded together and locked from one edge part to the other as scissors when the panel is angled down to the subfloor. It is also possible to connect two panels by lowering a whole panel solely by vertical movement against another panel. This specific type of locking is referred to as “vertical locking” A first row in a flooring system, which is designed to be locked with vertical folding, is often connected with a vertical locking where one short edge is pressed down vertically towards an another short edge. The other rows are connected with vertical folding. It is also possible to install a complete floor by connecting a row with vertical locking. The whole row is than connected to a previous installed row by angling.
Similar floor panels are further described in WO 2003/016654, which discloses locking system comprising a tongue with a flexible tab. The tongue is extending and bending essentially in a vertical direction and the tip of the tab cooperates with a tongue groove for vertical locking.
Vertical locking and vertical folding of this type creates a separation pressure at the short edges when the flexible tongue or flexible parts of the tongue are displaced horizontally during the angling of the long edges. The inventor has analyzed several types of floor panels and discovered that there is a considerable risk that the short edges could be pushed away from each other during installation and that a gap could occur between the edge portions of the short edges. Such a gap could prevent further installation and the floor panels will not be possible to connect. It could also cause serious damage to the locking system at the short edges. Pushing the floorboards sideways towards the short edges during installation could prevent the gap. Such an installation method is however complicated and difficult to use since three actions have to be combined and used simultaneously in connection with angling down of the long edges as described below.
a) The edges of a new floor panel has to be brought in contact with a first floor panel laying on the floor and the long edge of the new panel has to be pressed forward in angled position towards the first panel
b) The new panel has to be displaced sideways, in the pressed and angled up position, and pressed sideways against a short edge of a second panel laying on the floor in order to counteract the counter pressure of the tongue
c) The new panel must finally be angled down to the floor and the forward and sideways pressure must be maintained during the angling action.
The inventor has discovered that separation and installation problems often occur when the panels have a small thickness and small compact locking systems on the long edges or when the panel core comprise a material with smooth surfaces such as high density fibreboard (HDF). Such problems could also occur when the panels are short or in connection with the installation of the first or last panel in each row since such installation is generally made with panels which are cut to a smaller length in order to adapt the floor to the wall position. Separation problems are of course extremely difficult to handle in any type of panels using locking systems with a strong flexible tongue that creates a substantial horizontal separation pressure during the vertical folding. Such strong tongues are very important in many applications where a high quality vertical connection is required and panels with such flexible tongues are very difficult to install with the known installation methods.
The invention aims to solve separation problems in flooring which is intended to be installed with vertical folding or vertical locking.
In the following text, the visible surface of the installed floor panel is called “front face”, while the opposite side of the floor panel, facing the sub floor, is called “rear face”. The edge between the front and rear face is called “joint edge”. By “horizontal plane” is meant a plane, which extends parallel to the outer part of the surface layer. Immediately juxtaposed upper parts of two adjacent joint edges of two joined floor panels together define a “vertical plane” perpendicular to the horizontal plane.
By “joint” or “locking system” are meant co acting connecting means, which connect the floor panels vertically and/or horizontally. By “mechanical locking system” is meant that joining can take place without glue. Mechanical locking systems can in many cases also be combined with gluing. By “integrated with” means formed in one piece with the panel or factory connected to the panel.
By a “flexible tongue” is meant a separate tongue which has a length direction along the joint edges and which is forming a part of the vertical locking system and could be displaced at least partly horizontally during locking. The whole tongue could for example be bendable or it could have flexible and resilient parts that can be bent to a locked position or that could bend and spring back to its initial position.
By “angling” is meant a connection that occurs by a turning motion, during which an angular change occurs between two parts that are being connected, or disconnected. When angling relates to connection of two floor panels, the angular motion takes place with the upper parts of joint edges at least partly being in contact with each other, during at least part of the motion.
By an “angling locking system” is meant a mechanical locking system which could be connected vertically and horizontally with angling comprising a tongue and a grove that locks two adjacent edges in a vertical direction and a locking strip with a locking element in one edge of a panel called “strip panel” that cooperates with a locking groove on another edge of a panel called “grove panel” and locks the edges in a horizontal direction. The locking element and the locking groove have generally rounded guiding surfaces that guide the locking element into the locking groove and locking surfaces that locks and prevents horizontal separation between the edges.
With “installation angle” is meant the generally used angel between two panels which are in the initial stage of an angling installation when one panel is in an upwardly angled position and pressed with its upper edge against the upper edge of another panel laying flat on the sub floor. The installation angle is generally about 25 degrees and in this position there is only two contact points between the strip panel and the grove panel. In very special cases, where there may be more than two contact points between the connectors, the installation angle is higher than 25 degrees.
With “three point contact angle” is meant the angle between two floor panels during angling when there are at least three contact points between parts of the locking system.
With “contact angle” is meant the angle of the folding panel when the short edge of one panel is brought in the initial contact with the part of the flexible tongue which is intended to be displaced horizontally and which is active in the vertical locking at the short edges.
With “guiding angle” is meant the angle between two floor panels during angling when guiding surfaces of the locking element on the locking strip and/or on the locking groove are in contact with each other or with the upper part of the locking element or the lower part of the locking groove respectively. Guiding surfaces are often rounded or beveled parts that during angling press the upper edges of the panels towards each other and facilitate the insertion of the locking element into the locking groove. Most locking systems on the market have a guiding angle of about 5 degrees
With “locking angle” is meant the angle between two floor panels at a final stage of an angling action when the active locking surfaces on the locking element and the locking groove are in an initial contact with each other. Most locking systems have locking angles of about 3 degrees or lover.
With “friction angle” is meant the angle when a friction along long edges increase considerably during angling from an installation angle due to the fact that more than two contact points are active in an angling locking system and counteracts displacement along the long edges.
With “tongue pressure” is meant the pressure in N when a tongue is in a predetermined position. With “maximum tongue pressure” is meant the pressure of the tongue when it is in the inner position during vertical folding and with “tongue pre tension” is meant the tongue pressure in locked position when the tongue presses against a part of the tongue grove.
The disclosure aims at a set of floor panels or a floating flooring with a mechanical locking system which will improve installation of floor panel installed with vertical folding and which will counteract or prevent separation of the short edges during installation.
The disclosure is based on a first basic understanding that such separation problems are mainly related to the locking system at the long edges. All known locking systems, that are used to lock panels with angling, are very easy to displace along the joint when the floor panels are in an initial angled position in relation to each other. The friction increases considerably at a low angle, when the floor panels are almost in a locked position. This means that the friction between the long edges is not sufficient to prevent displacement of the short edges during the initial stage of the vertical folding when the angle is high and when a part of the flexible tongue has to be pressed horizontally in order to allow the vertical folding. The friction between long edges will in most locking systems increase at a low angle but this is a disadvantage since the short edges could already have been separated and the locking system on the short edge is not capable to overcome the friction in a low angle and to pull together the short edges. The separation makes installation more complicated since panels have to be angled and pressed sideway during installation and there is a considerable risk that the locking system on the short edge will be damaged.
An objective of the invention is to solve the separation problem between the short edges by, contrary to the present technology, increasing the friction between the long edges, when the long edges are in an angled position and prior to their final locked position. The increased friction between the long edges could counteract or even prevent displacement along the joint of the long edges during the vertical folding when the flexible tongue is pressing the floor panels away from each other and it could counteract or even completely prevent separation of the short edges during such installation.
The disclosure is based on a second understanding that the combined function of the long edge locking system and the short edge locking system is essential in a floor, which is designed to be installed with vertical folding. Long and short edge locking systems should be adapted to each other in order to provide a simple, easy and reliable installation.
The disclosure provides for new embodiments of locking systems at long and short edges according to different aspects offering respective advantages. Useful areas for the invention are floor panels of any shape and material e.g. laminate; especially panels with surface materials contain thermosetting resins, wood, HDF, veneer or stone.
The disclosure comprises according a first principle floor panels with long edges having a locking system that at an angle, larger than used by the present known technology, counteracts displacement along the joint when panels are connected with vertical folding.
According to one embodiment of the first principle, the invention provides for a set of essentially identical floor panels each comprising long and short edges and provided with first and second connectors integrated with the floor panels. The connectors are configured to connect adjacent edges. The first connector comprises a locking strip with an upwardly directed locking element at an edge of one floor panel and a downwardly open locking groove at an adjacent edge of another floor panel for connecting the adjacent edges horizontally in a direction perpendicular to the adjacent edges. The second connector comprises a tongue at an edge of one floor panel, extending horizontally perpendicular to the edge and a horizontally open tongue groove in an adjacent edge of another floor panel for connecting the adjacent edges in vertical direction. The connectors at the long edges are configured to be locked with angling and the connectors at the short edge are configured to be locked with vertical folding. A long edge of a new panel in a second row is configured to be connected to a long edge of a first panel in a first row by angling. A short edge of the new panel and a short edge of a second panel in a second row are configured to be connected with the same angle motion. The connectors of the long edges have at least three separate contact points or contact surfaces between adjacent parts of the connectors when the new panel is pressed with its upper edge against the upper edge of the first panel at an angle against the principal plane of at least 10 degrees.
As the floor panel according to the first principle of the invention is provided with long edges which at an angling angle of 10 degrees have three contact points, a considerable friction between long edges will be created and this friction will counteract or prevent displacement of the short edges caused by the pressure of the tongue during the vertical folding. The advantage is that the flexible tongue could be formed and positioned on the short edge with an initial contact point which is located close to the long edge, for example at a distance of about 15 mm from the long edge, and this will allow a vertical locking over a substantial length of the short edge.
Improved installation function could be obtained in some embodiments if the three point contact angle is greater than 10 degrees, preferably 15 degrees or higher. In other embodiments, more than 18 or even more than 20 degrees are required to obtain an easy installation.
According to a second principle of the invention, the position and shape of a preferably flexible tongue at the short edge and the locking system on the long edges are such that the friction along the long edges will increase when the panel is angled downwards from an installation angle to a contact angle when the flexible tongue due to the vertical folding action will come into initial contact with the adjacent short edge and when further angling will cause a first flexible edge of the flexible tongue to be displaced horizontally and to create a horizontal separation pressure of the short edges.
According to an embodiment of this second principle, the invention provides for a set of essentially identical floor panels each comprising long and short edges and provided with first and second connectors integrated with the floor panels. The connectors are configured to connect adjacent edges. The first connector comprises a locking strip with an upwardly directed locking element at an edge of one floor panel and a downwardly open locking groove at an adjacent edge of another floor panel for connecting the adjacent edges horizontally in a direction perpendicular to the adjacent edges. The second connector comprises a tongue at an edge of one floor panel, extending horizontally perpendicular to the edge and a horizontally open tongue groove in an adjacent edge of another floor panel for connecting the adjacent edges in vertical direction. The connectors at the long edges are configured to be locked with angling and the connectors at the short edge are configured to be locked with vertical folding. A long edge of a new panel in a second row is configured to be connected to a long edge of a first panel in a first row by angling. A short edge of the new panel and a short edge of a second panel in a second row are configured to be connected with the same angle motion. The tongue at the short edges is made of a separate material, connected to a connection groove and has a flexible part with an edge section located closest to the long edge of the first panel. The edge section is configured to be displaced horizontally during the folding and to cooperate with the tongue groove of an adjacent short edge for locking the floor panels together in a vertical direction. The first and second connectors on the long edges are configured such that a friction force along the long edges is lower in an installation angle than in a contact angle when the panels are pressed against each other with the same pressure force and with the upper joint edges in contact. The installation angle is 25 degrees and the contact angle is a lower angle corresponding to an initial contact between the edge section and the adjacent short edge.
The increased friction between the long edges at the contact angle could be obtained in many alternative ways for example by increasing the pressure between contact points and/or by increasing the size of contact surfaces at the contact points between the first and second connections and/or by increasing the contact points from 2 to 3 or from 3 to 4.
According to a third principle of the invention a locking system is provided on the long edges with friction means such that the friction will be high along the long edges in an angled position when there are only two contact points between the connectors on the long edges.
According an embodiment of this third principle the invention provides for a set of essentially identical floor panels each comprising long and short edges and provided with first and second connectors integrated with the floor panels. The connectors are configured to connect adjacent edges. The first connector comprises a locking strip with an upwardly directed locking element at an edge of one floor panel and a downwardly open locking groove at an adjacent edge of another floor panel for connecting the adjacent edges horizontally in a direction perpendicular to the adjacent edges. The second connector comprises a tongue at an edge of one floor panel, extending horizontally perpendicular to the edge and a horizontally open tongue groove in an adjacent edge of another floor panel for connecting the adjacent edges in vertical direction. The connectors at the long edges are configured to be locked with angling and the connectors at the short edge are configured to be locked with vertical folding. A long edge of a new panel in a second row is configured to be connected to a long edge of a first panel in a first row by angling. A short edge of the new panel and a short edge of a second panel in a second row are configured to be connected with the same angle motion. The tongue at the short edges is made of a separate material, connected to a connection groove and has a flexible part which is configured to be displaced horizontally during the folding and to cooperate with the tongue groove of an adjacent short edge for locking the floor panels together in a vertical direction. The first and second connectors on the long edges comprise friction means configured to increase friction along the long edges when the panels are in an angle where there are only two contact points between the first and second connectors.
The friction means could or could not be active at lower angles when there are three or more contact points in the locking system.
The third principle offer the advantages that friction along the long edges could be high even at a high angle for example at the installation angle and this could be used in connection with an installation method where an edge of the flexible tongue is compressed by the displacement of the long edge during an initial stage of the vertical folding as shown in
Such friction means could comprise mechanically formed devices as for example small protrusions formed by rotating tools or pressure wheels on parts of the locking system for example on the tongue and/or on the locking strip. They could also comprise chemicals or small particles, which are applied in the locking system in order to increase friction along the long edges.
According to a fourth principle of the invention a flooring system with a locking system on the long and short edges is provided where the floor panels could be locked with vertical folding and where the position, shape and material properties of a preferably flexible tongue on the short edge is combined with a long edge locking system comprising connectors which allow that a floor panel cut to a length of 20 cm could be connected to another panel in the same row with vertical folding and that the friction between the long edges will prevent separation of the short edges.
According to one embodiment of this fourth principle a set of essentially identical floor panels each comprising long and short edges and provided with first and second connectors integrated with the floor panels. The connectors are configured to connect adjacent edges. The first connector comprises a locking strip with an upwardly directed locking element at an edge of one floor panel and a downwardly open locking groove at an adjacent edge of another floor panel for connecting the adjacent edges horizontally in a direction perpendicular to the adjacent edges. The second connector comprises a tongue at an edge of one floor panel, extending horizontally perpendicular to the edge and a horizontally open tongue groove in an adjacent edge of another floor panel for connecting the adjacent edges in vertical direction. The connectors at the long edges are configured to be locked with angling and the connectors at the short edge are configured to be locked with vertical folding. A long edge of a new panel in a second row is configured to be connected to a long edge of a first panel in a first row by angling. A short edge of the new panel and a short edge of a second panel in a second row are configured to be connected with the same angle motion. The tongue at the short edges is made of a separate material, connected to a connection groove and has a flexible part which is configured to be displaced horizontally during the folding and to cooperate with the tongue groove of an adjacent short edge for locking the floor panels together in a vertical direction. The connectors on long and short edges are configured such that the second and new panel, whereby one of said panels, cut to a length of about 20 cm, is not displaced away from the other panel when said panels are in a contact position at an installation angle and during the vertical folding.
The fourth principle offer the advantages that floor panels with such a locking system could be installed with high precision and that separation of short edges will not take place even when panels are cut to small pieces and installed as a first or a last panels in a row. A separation of some 0.01 mm could be sufficient to create problems and undesired gaps, which could be visible in a floor surface or where moisture could penetrate into the joint.
The second object of the invention is to provide an installation method to connect floor panels with vertical folding. The panels have an angling locking system on the long edges and a vertical folding system on the short edges for locking the panels vertically and horizontally, whereby a first and a second panel are laying flat on a sub floor with the long edges connected to each other, characterized in that the method comprises the steps of
This installation method allows that floor panels will be maintained in an angled up position by for example the upper part of a locking element and the lower part of a locking groove. This will facilitate installation since the installer could change hand position from bring a panel into an installation angle and then to a position suitable to press down the short edge section of this panel towards the sub floor. The advantage is that the combined actions of pressing together upper edges in an angle, pressing the panel sideways to avoid separation of short edges and folding down the panel to the floor, could be avoided and replaced by three separate and independent actions.
A third objective of the invention is to provide new locking system or combinations of locking systems that could be used on long and/or short edges and that are especially designed to reduce separation problems. These locking systems could of course be used separately to connect any type of floorboards or building panels on short and/or long edges.
According to a first aspect of this third objective a flexible tongue is provided that comprises two flexible parts, an inner flexible part which is located in an inner part of a displacement groove and an outer flexible part located at the outer part of the displacement groove and that locks into a tongue groove of an adjacent edge of another panel. The inner part is preferably more flexible than the outer part and could preferably be displaced to a greater extent than the outer more rigid part that locks the panels vertically. The invention makes it possible to combine strength and low displacement resistance.
According to a second aspect of this third objective a short edge locking system with a preferably flexible tongue is combined with a compact tongue lock system that could be locked with angling. Such a locking system is cost effective and the geometry is favorable and could be used to design a locking system that creates considerable friction along the long edge during angling. Such a tongue lock could replace the long edge locking system with a protruding strip in all principles and methods described above. This embodiment of the invention has a first connector which comprises a tongue with an upwardly directed locking element at an upper part of the tongue at an edge of one floor panel and a second connector comprising a downwardly extending locking groove located in an undercut tongue groove at an adjacent edge of another floor panel for connecting the adjacent edges horizontally and vertically. The connectors at the long edges are even in this embodiment configured to be locked with angling and the connectors at the short edge are configured to be locked with vertical folding. As an example it could be mentioned that according to the first principle, the connectors of the long edges have at least three separate contact points or contact surfaces between adjacent parts of the connectors when the new panel is pressed with its upper edge against the upper edge of the first panel at an angle against the principal plane of at least 10 degrees.
According to a third aspect of this third objective a short edge locking system with a preferably flexible tongue is provided which counteracts or prevents displacement of the long edges during vertical folding. The locking system comprises, as described before, a strip with a locking element and a separate flexible tongue in a strip panel, a tongue groove and a locking groove in the folding panel. The locking surface of the locking groove is essential vertical and parallel with the vertical plane VP and has preferably a height, which is at least 0.1 time the floor thickness. The locking system is preferably designed such that the locking element with its upper part of the locking surface is in contact with the lower part of the locking surface of the locking groove in a locking angle when there are no contacts between the fold panel and the flexible tongue. The essentially vertical locking surface will prevent separation when the tongue during further angling is in contact with the fold panel. A part of the locking surfaces are in a preferred embodiment located on a protrusion and in a cavity.
It is obvious that two or more or even all of the principles described above could be combined and that all embodiments of locking systems described in this application could be used in combinations or independently to connect long and/or short edges. The figures are only used to show examples of different embodiments, which could be used in various combinations on long and short edges in a same panel type or in different panel types intended to be connected to each other. All locking systems on long and/or short edges of a panel could be formed in one piece with the core or they could comprise separate materials, for example a separate tongue and/or strip, which could be integrated with the floor panel or connected during installation. Even the locking groove and/or the tongue groove could be made of separate materials. This means that the invention also comprises one piece locking systems on the short edges where parts of the locking system, such as for example the tongue and/or the strip and/or the locking element, are flexible and preferably comprise wood fibre based material, for example HDF, and which could be locked by vertical folding, provided that such locking systems create a separation force during locking. A separate wood fibre based material could also be fixed connected to the panel edge by for example gluing, and it could be machined to a locking system in the same way as the one piece system described above.
The invention is useful in all types of floorings. It is however especially suitable for short panels for example 40-120 cm where the friction along the long edges is low, for wide panels with a width of more than 20 cm since the flexible tongue is long and will create an extensive tongue pressure, and for panels with for example a core of HDF, compact laminate or plastic materials and similar where the friction is low due to very smooth and low friction surfaces in the locking system. The invention is also useful in thin panels, for example with a thickness of 6-9 mm, more preferably thinner 8 mm and thinner and especially is such panels with compact locking systems on long edges, for example with locking strips shorter than 6 mm, since such floor panels and such locking system will have small contact surfaces with low friction.
Several advantages could be reached with a flooring system configured according to one or several of the principles described above. A first advantage consists in that installation could be made in a simple way and no sideway pressure has to be applied during installation in order to prevent floorboards to separate at the short edges. A second advantage is that the risk of edge separation, which could cause cracks in the locking system during folding, is reduced considerably. A third advantage is that locking systems could be formed with more rigid and stronger tongues that could lock the panels vertically with higher strength and a substantial tongue pre tension. Such tongues with substantial maximal tongue pressure and pre tension pressure in locked position will create high separation forces during the vertical folding. A fourth advantage is that the flexible tongue could be positioned close to the long edge and a reliable locking function could be obtained in spite of the fact that such flexible tongue will create a separation pressure at a rather high contact angle.
A measurement of the initial contact friction and the installation friction should be made according to the following principles. The contact angle of a new floor board and a first floor board should be measured when a first edge section of the flexible tongue, which is active in the vertical locking, is in a first contact with the short edge during the initial stage of the vertical folding action. The contact friction along the long edge of a 200 mm sample should be measured at this contact angle when the panels are pressed against each other with a normal installation pressure of 10 N. The installation friction should be measured according to the same method at an installation angle of 25 degrees. The contact friction should be at least about 50% higher than the installation pressure.
Friction means comprising mechanical devices such as protrusions, brushed fibres, scraped edge and similar in a locking system are easy to detect. Chemicals are more difficult.
Another method should be used to measure increased friction due to friction means if it is not clear and obvious that mechanical devices, chemicals, impregnation, coating, separate materials etc. have been used in order to increase friction between floorboards in an installation angle. A new locking system with essentially the same design as the original sample should be produced from the same original floor panels and core material. The friction should be measured at the same installation angle and pressure and the friction between the two samples, the original sample and the new sample, should be compared. This testing method assumes of course that the whole core does not contain friction-increasing materials.
A lot of HDF based floor panels on the market have been tested and the result is that a sample with a 200 mm long edge which is pressed against another long edge with a pressure of 10 N at an angle of 25 degrees generally has a friction of about 10 N or lower. This is too low to prevent displacement of the short edges during vertical folding. Friction means could increase the friction considerably.
The contact angle is defined as the angle of the new panel when an edge is in initial contact with the part of the flexible tongue, which is intended to be displaced, and is active in the vertical locking. There could be for example protrusions at the edge of the tongue that are not causing any major horizontal pressure during vertical folding. Such protrusions and similar devices should not be considered to be a part of the flexible tongue.
All references to “a/an/the [element, device, component, means, step, etc.]” are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of said element, device, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise.
A prior art floor panel 1, 1′ provided with a mechanical locking system and a displaceable tongue is described with reference to
The front faces of the panels are essentially positioned in a common horizontal plane HP, and the upper parts 21, 41 of the joint edges 4a, 4b abut against each other in a vertical plane VP. The mechanical locking system provides locking of the panels relative to each other in the vertical direction D1 as well as the horizontal direction D2.
To provide joining of the two joint edges in the D1 and D2 directions, the edges of the floor panel have in a manner known per se a locking strip 6 with a locking element 8 in one joint edge, hereafter referred to as the “strip panel” which cooperates with a locking groove 14 in the other joint edge, hereafter referred to as the “fold panel”, and provides the horizontal locking.
The prior art mechanical locking system comprises a separate flexible tongue 30 fixed into a displacement groove 40 formed in one of the joint edges. The flexible tongue 30 has a groove portion P1, which is located in the displacement groove 40 and a projecting portion P2 projecting outside the displacement groove 40. The projecting portion P2 of the flexible tongue 30 in one of the joint edges cooperates with a tongue groove 20 formed in the other joint edge.
The flexible tongue 30 has a protruding part P2 with a rounded outer part 31 and a sliding surface 32, which in this embodiment if formed like a bevel. It has upper 33 and lower 35 tongue displacement surfaces and an inner part 34.
The displacement groove 40 has an upper 42 and a lower 46 opening, which in this embodiment are rounded, a bottom 44 and upper 43 and lower 45 groove displacement surfaces, which preferably are essentially parallel with the horizontal plane HP.
The tongue groove 20 has a tongue-locking surface 22, which cooperates with the flexible tongue 30 and locks the joint edges in a vertical direction D1. The fold panel 1′ has a vertical locking surface 24, which is closer to the rear face 62 than the tongue groove 20. The vertical locking surface 24 cooperates with the strip 6 and locks the joint edges in another vertical direction. The fold panel has in this embodiment a sliding surface 23 which cooperated during locking with the sliding surface 32 of the flexible tongue 30.
The flexible tongue could be wedge shaped and could be locked in the tongue grove with pre tension which will press the folding panel 1′ against the strip panel. Such an embodiment will give a very strong high quality joint.
The fold panel could be disconnected with a needle shaped tool, which could be inserted from the corner section 9b into the tongue grove 20 and press the flexible tongue back into the displacement groove 40. The fold panel could then be angled up while the strip panel is still on the sub floor. Of course the panels could also be disconnected in the traditional way.
It is generally an advantage to have the tongue on the strip panel since rounded or beveled parts on the folding panel could be used to facilitate displacement of flexible parts of the tongue. An embodiment with a tongue, which is on the folding panel, as shown in
A tongue could comprise of plastic material and could be produced with for example injection moulding. With this production method a wide variety of complex three-dimensional shapes could be produced at low cost and the flexible tongues may easily be connected to each other to form tongue blanks. A tongue could also be made of an extruded or machined plastic or metal section, which could be further shaped with for example punching to form a flexible tongue. The drawback with extrusion, besides the additional productions steps, is that it is hard to reinforce the tongue, e.g. by fibres.
Any type of polymer materials could be used such as PA (nylon), POM, PC, PP, PET or PE or similar having the properties described above in the different embodiments. These plastic materials could, when injection moulding is used, be reinforced with for instance glass fibre, Kevlar fibre, carbon fibre or talk or chalk. A preferred material is glass fibre, preferably extra-long, reinforced PP or POM.
A flexible tongue similar to the embodiment shown in
The importance of the contact angle and the combined function of the long and short edges during vertical folding and vertical locking will now be explained with reference to
There are locking systems on the market that show rather high friction at high angles. Such locking systems are not possible to angle down from an installation angle to a contact angle or a guiding angle in a normal way with a pressure F1 of 10 N, which corresponds to a 60 N pressure force applied to a floor panel of 120 cm during installation and they are a type of locking systems where angling must be combined with very hard pressure or a snap action in an angled position. Such locking systems are not used in vertical folding systems. They are not excluded according to the invention but they are not favorable in an vertical folding system since they will only marginally, in some specific applications, improve installation compared to the traditionally used installation with angling short and long edges, snapping short and long edges or angling long edges and snapping short edges.
A simple vertical locking on the short edge does not give any major improvement over the present technology if it is not combined with a well-functioning long edge locking system with superior guiding and locking properties that allow a connection of long and short edges with a simple angling action. As can be seen from the embodiments shown in for example
The invention provides, based on this principle, an installation method of three panels where the first 1″ and the second panel 1 is laying flat on the sub floor with the long edges connected to each other as for example shown in
This installation method allows that floor panels will be maintained in an angled up position by for example the guiding surfaces 11,12 as shown in
1. They are generally made from an extruded plastic section that is cost effective but the production tolerances are not sufficient to obtain a high quality locking.
2. The flexibility is not sufficient due to the fact that only one flexible snap tab is used that bends over a very limited vertical distance in thin floorboards. This low flexibility creates substantial separation forces of the edges.
3. It is difficult to combine flexibility and locking strength especially in flexible tongues as shown in
The invention comprises also a separate extruded flexible tongue designed to be used for vertical locking of floorboard characterized in that such a tongue has been equalized preferably on an upper 63 and/or lower 64 contact surface and/or on a locking surface 65. Such a tongue and the above described tongue with a removed edge section could also have a shape similar to the shapes shown in
Machining, grinding and similar production steps will generally create a surface that differs from the extruded virgin surface. This could in most cases be detected in a microscope. Such machining could also be used to increase or decrease friction between the tongue and the displacement groove.
A lot of chemicals could be used to impregnate or to coat parts or the whole locking systems such as melamine, urea, phenol, thermoplastic materials such as PP or PUR. Such chemicals could be cured with for example heat, microwave, UV or similar with or without pressure.
The flexible tongue 70 could in a standard HDF material flex a few tenths of a millimeter and this could be sufficient to obtain a vertical locking especially in a laminate floor. Impregnation and/or coating could increase this flexibility considerably
According to the invention a preferred embodiment comprising a short edge locking system is provided that could be locked with vertical folding or vertical locking and that is characterized in that the locking system comprises an edge with a strip 6, a locking element 8, a flexible tongue 30 extending downwards and formed in one piece with a panel core or in a separate material which is connected in a fixed manner to the core. The flexible tongue 30 comprises an undercut groove 70 formed behind the tongue.
Several alternatives are possible within the main principle of this invention.
The invention is not limited to the abovementioned illustrative embodiments, but is naturally applicable to other embodiments within the scope of the following patent claims, and equivalents thereof.
The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/633,480, filed on Feb. 27, 2015, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/294,623, filed on Jun. 3, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/080,105, filed on Nov. 14, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,763,341, which is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/923,836, filed on Oct. 25, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,689,512, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/858,968, filed on Nov. 15, 2006. The entire contents of each of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/633,480, U.S. application Ser. No. 14/294,623, U.S. application Ser. No. 14/080,105, U.S. Pat. No. 8,763,341, U.S. application Ser. No. 11/923,836, U.S. Pat. No. 8,689,512, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/858,968 are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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| 20200102756 A1 | Apr 2020 | US |
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