Patent Application
20140182228
The present invention is in the field of flooring systems. More particularly, the present invention is in the field of modifying an existing interlocked floor by replacing floor panels from the center of the floor.
Hardwood, manufactured wood, laminate, and new vinyl based flooring systems are very popular today. They all utilize similar interlocking mechanisms to connect floor panels together to create a finished floor. Once installed, it is extremely difficult to replace a panel is the middle of the floor. In order to do so requires unlocking the entire floor up to the panel at issue, replacing the panel, and then reinstalling the area of the floor that was removed. This effort often exceeds the value gained and the process weakens the interlocking structures.
Hence, manufacturers provide patch materials that can be used to fill in small scratches and dents. However, these are often inadequate and only address small damages. Additionally, there is no way to address the issue if the user wants to replace individual floor panels for cosmetic reasons such as to establish a pattern of various colors, textures, or styles.
There is therefore, a need for a system that allows replacement of individual floor panels in an inter-locking floor with minimal effort.
The difficulty in replacing a panel in the center of an inter-locking flooring system lies primarily in the fact that such floors are installed in a horizontal plane. In other words, the panels are inter-locked using primarily, a horizontal motion. When the floor is initially installed, there is room to advance each panel in the horizontal direction from the area of the floor that is yet unfinished. However, once the floor is completely installed, it is impossible to install a replacement panel as there is no space to negotiate the horizontal motion. For example, when a damaged panel is removed, the opening created is surrounded by other panels. There is only a vertical direction that can be leveraged to install the replacement panel.
Hence, the basic concept being proposed in the current invention is that of converting the requirement for horizontal motion into one of vertical motion. The present invention allows a replacement panel to be installed vertically down into a space in the center of an interlocked floor. This conversion is achieved by use of adaptors and specially designed replacement panels. The adaptors of the invention convert the requirement for horizontal motion into vertical motion. The replacement panel of the invention is specially designed to lock into the adaptors in a vertical direction.
Inter-locking flooring systems leverage slight variations of a basic tongue and groove mechanism to establish a secure mechanical bond between two panels. Each rectangular floor panel has two tongue sides and two groove sides. The edge of each panel must be negotiated into the complementary edge of another. In simple tongue and groove systems such as with traditional hardwood floors, this action requires horizontal motion to bring the mating pieces together. In laminate flooring systems, a slight vertical angle may be required but the primary motion is still horizontal. In all cases, in order to add a panel of flooring to the installation, 2 of the 4 sides must be open in order to provide space for the horizontal motion to take place. This is not a problem daring the initial installation. However, when replacing a floor panel in a finished floor, this process is impossible.
The invention converts the horizontal motion necessary to join two panels into a vertical motion by use of adaptors and specially designed replacement panels. In interlocking flooring systems, there are two types of edges on the floor panels; a groove edge and tongue edge. The groove edge of one panel interlocks with the tongue edge of another. From the perspective of a given existing panel's edge, the adaptors of the invention depicted in
The new replacement floor panel is kept secure by gluing along the length of the interfaces between the adaptor and new floor panel along all 4 edges. Alternatively, depending on the materials used, manufacturing tolerances, and usage application, friction may be sufficient to keep the replacement panel secured.
If there are two or more contiguous pieces that need replacement, an additional adaptor design is required. For instance, if two contiguous floor panels are damaged and require replacement, their removal creates an open space equivalent to the area of two floor panels. In order to introduce two replacement panels, adaptors as depicted in
While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the invention.
