U.S. patent application number 11/136326 was filed with the patent office on 2006-11-23 for connection for laminate flooring.
This patent application is currently assigned to QUALITY CRAFT LTD.. Invention is credited to John Nigel Brice.
Application Number | 20060260252 11/136326 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37447017 |
Filed Date | 2006-11-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060260252 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Brice; John Nigel |
November 23, 2006 |
Connection for laminate flooring
Abstract
A locking connection between first, second and third adjacent
flooring panels. A tongue and groove connection is used for joining
the long edges of the first and second pieces. The long edge of the
third piece is inserted into an engaging relationship with the long
edge of the first piece with the third piece is a tilted
relationship with the first piece while a male protuberance on the
short edge is aligned with a female groove of the second piece. The
third piece is then tilted downwardly relative to the first and
second pieces until it reaches the horizontal position and the
groove has accepted the male protuberance along its full
length.
Inventors: |
Brice; John Nigel; (Surrey,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
John Russell Uren, P. Eng.;Suite 202
1590 Bellevue Avenue
West Vancouver
BC
V7V 1A7
CA
|
Assignee: |
QUALITY CRAFT LTD.
|
Family ID: |
37447017 |
Appl. No.: |
11/136326 |
Filed: |
May 23, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
52/588.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04F 2201/0138 20130101;
E04F 2201/0153 20130101; E04F 15/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
052/588.1 |
International
Class: |
E04B 2/00 20060101
E04B002/00 |
Claims
1. A locking connection between first, second and third adjacent
pieces of flooring, said connection comprising a female and a male
connection along the long sides of said first and third adjacent
pieces of said flooring and a male and female connection along the
short sides of said second and third adjacent pieces of flooring,
said female and male connections between said long sides of said
first and third adjacent pieces allowing a limited amount of
relative movement between said first and third pieces and said
female and male connections extending in a plane which is generally
perpendicular to the plane of said flooring in said final assembled
generally horizontally position.
2. Locking connection as in claim 1 wherein said flooring is
laminate flooring.
3. A method of connecting first, second and third adjacent pieces
of flooring, said first and said third of said adjacent pieces
being connected along their long sides and two (2) of said adjacent
pieces being joined along their short sides, said method comprising
bringing said third adjacent piece into contact with said first
adjacent piece while said third piece is tilted relative to said
first piece and bringing said short side of said third piece into
contact with said short side of said second piece while in said
tilted position, tilting said third piece downwardly into a
generally horizontal final position while said short side of said
third piece enters into a compressive relationship with said short
side of said second piece.
4. Method as in claim 3 wherein said flooring is laminate flooring.
Description
[0001] This invention relates to a connection between pieces of
flooring and, more particularly, to a connection between adjacent
pieces of laminate flooring which connection allows an efficient
and expedited joining of such adjacent pieces.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] With the introduction of laminate floor tiles which can be
installed relatively easily by a non-commercial user, a number of
patents have been obtained for the various techniques used in
joining adjacent pieces of the tiles and which patents cover,
generally, different tongue and groove attachment techniques. Some
patents teach connections on the short side of the floor panels and
others teach connections on the long sides. Some patents teach
connections on both the short and long sides of the floor panels.
However, these patents generally require the user to use a "two
step" attachment process. Two adjacent pieces of laminate flooring
are initially connected along the long sides of the adjacent
pieces. Subsequently, a third piece is attached to one of the two
adjacent pieces along their long sides in a first step and,
thereafter, the third piece is attached to the short side of
another of the adjacent pieces. The first step generally involves
joining the edges of the long sides and the second step covers
joining the edges of the short sides. Either or both steps
generally utilise a "snap" connection. This "snap" connection is
one where one of the floor panels has a protuberance which is
deformed upon the entry into a complementary receiving groove on
the adjacent floor panel. The deformed member, following assembly,
"snaps" back into an undeformed position to ensure locking
integrity of the tongue and groove connections between the adjacent
panels. Such a procedure is disclosed, for example, in each of U.S.
Pat. Nos. 5,706,621 (Pervan) and 5,860,267 (Pervan).
[0003] The two (2) step procedure, however, is disadvantageous in
several respects. First, it is a two step procedure. The long sides
of adjacent tiles need to be initially joined. Thereafter, the
second of the initially joined flooring pieces must be moved
towards a previously joined and adjacent piece relative to the
initially joined piece to a degree such that the short sides come
into contact. Following contact, the second piece must be forced
into locking association with the first piece. In order to force
the two pieces together and to deform the locking connections,
significant force is required. In fact, often a rubber mallet or
hammer is used to move the two adjacent pieces into locking
association because of the necessity for deforming the piece which
snaps into the complementary receptacle on the adjacent piece.
Disassembly of the locked pieces is not easy if the assembled
flooring is desired to be disassembled for purposes of moving the
flooring or re-laying a poorly positioned piece.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided
a locking connection between first, second and third adjacent
pieces of laminate flooring, said connection comprising a female
and a male connection along the long sides of said first and third
adjacent pieces of said flooring and a male and female connection
along the short sides of said second and third adjacent pieces of
flooring, said female and male connections between said long sides
of said first and third adjacent pieces allowing a limited amount
of relative movement between said first and third pieces and said
female and male connections extending in a plane which is generally
perpendicular to the plane of said flooring in said final assembled
generally horizontally position.
[0005] According to a further aspect of the invention, there is
provided a method of connecting first, second and third adjacent
pieces of laminate flooring, said first and said third of said
adjacent pieces being connected along their long sides and two (2)
of said adjacent pieces being joined along their short sides, said
method comprising bringing said third adjacent piece into contact
with said first adjacent piece while said third piece is tilted
relative to said first piece and bringing said short side of said
third piece into contact with said short side of said second piece
while in said tilted position, tilting said third piece downwardly
into a generally horizontal final position while said short side of
said third piece enters into a compressive relationship with said
short side of said second piece.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEW OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described,
by way of example only, with the use of drawings in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of three adjacent pieces
of flooring which are intended to be joined together to form a
connection on both the long and short sides of the three
pieces;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of a connection commonly
used to join the long sides of the three adjacent pieces of
flooring;
[0009] FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrammatic side views of two
connections according to the invention used for joining the short
sides of the three adjacent pieces of flooring;
[0010] FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrammatic isometric views of the
adjacent pieces of flooring during an assembly operation;
[0011] FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the three pieces of adjacent
flooring following assembly; and
[0012] FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C and 6D are diagrammatic side views of
alternate embodiments of the connection between the short sides of
adjacent pieces of flooring according to the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT
[0013] Referring now to the drawings, three (3) adjacent pieces of
laminate flooring, namely first piece 10, second piece 11 and third
piece 12 are illustrated in FIG. 1 which pieces are illustrated in
their unassembled condition and which pieces 10, 11, 12 are
intended to be joined together in an integral assembly on the top
of a floor and which pieces illustrate the connection and the
operation of the connection procedure according to the
invention.
[0014] Each of the three pieces 10, 11 12 have short and long
edges, the short edges of first piece 10 not being illustrated for
efficacy. Third piece 12 has a short edge 13 and second piece 11
has a short edge 14. First piece 10 has a long edge 20 which is
intended to be connected to long edge 21 of third piece 12 and
which long edge 20 is shown already connected to second piece 11
along long edge 22.
[0015] The connection area along the long edges 20, 21 of the first
and third pieces 10, 12 are illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 2
where the edge 20 is shown with a female receiving configuration
adapted to receive the male configuration 21 of piece 12. A
connection of this nature is illustrated and described in Terback
U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,820, the contents of which are incorporated by
reference.
[0016] The connection takes place by tilting the third piece 12
upwardly as also illustrated in FIG. 4A relative to first piece 10
until the male configuration 21 enters the female configuration 20.
Ordinarily and according to the prior art, third piece 12 would
then be tilted down to its normal horizontally assembled condition
and the piece 12 would then be tapped manually by hand or with a
mallet until it reached contact with the short edge 14 of second
piece 11 while relative movement between first and third pieces 10,
12, respectively, occurs with third piece 12 moving towards second
piece 11 while first piece 10 remains stationary. However, the
connection between the two short sides 13, 14 according to the
invention is illustrated in FIGS. 3A, 4A and 4B. It will be
appreciated that the two sides 13, 14 are also a male and female
connection with edge 14 being a female connection 15 which receives
male connection 23. Male connection 23 has a rounded edge or
protuberance 24 which the receptacle 30 of connection 15 is
designed to squeeze while it enters the connection 15. It will be
appreciated that sliding the two short edges 13, 14 towards each
other will result in interference between the two edges 13, 14 and
that unless the piece 12 is tilted upwardly relative to the piece
11 and then tilted downwardly to the horizontal position as
illustrated in FIG. 4B, the connections on the short edges 13, 14
will not be joined.
[0017] Referring to FIG. 4A, when piece 12 is tilted upwardly and
the protuberance 23 is initially positioned into receptacle 15, the
subsequent tilt of piece 12 downwardly as illustrated by the arrows
in FIG. 4A results in the protuberance or male connection 23 being
received along the length of the female receptacle 15. While the
piece 12 is being tilted downwardly to assume its generally
horizontal position as shown in FIG. 4B, the protuberance 24 will
press on the receptacle 30 and draw the adjacent pieces closer
together so that the final connection between the two adjacent
pieces 11, 12 has considerable integrity.
[0018] A small cutaway portion 31 on the edge 14 (FIGS. 4A and 5)
allows the initial entry of the male protuberance 23 without
interference with the edge 14. Thus, piece 12 can be positioned
with male protuberance 23 within the groove 15 of edge 14.
OPERATION
[0019] In operation, it will be assumed that the first and second
pieces 10, 11 illustrated in FIG. 1 have already been joined
together and are existing horizontally on the floor on which they
are laid. It is now desired to connect a third piece 12 to both of
the previously laid pieces 10, 11.
[0020] The long edge 21 of third piece 12 will be brought into
proximity with the long edge 20 of first piece 10. Third piece 12
will be tilted upwardly to the position generally illustrated in
FIG. 4A and the male connection 21 will be inserted into the female
connection 20 (FIG. 2). At the same time, the third piece 12 will
be moved relative to first piece 10 until male protuberance 23
passes by the outside of edge 14 due to the cutaway area 31 (FIGS.
4A and 5) and is positioned directly above the female receiving
area or groove 15 of edge 14 (FIG. 4A).
[0021] Third piece 12 will then be tilted downwardly to the
horizontal position with the male connection 21 rotating relative
to the female connection 20 and the male protuberance 23 being
acted upon by the edge 30 of groove 15 (FIG. 3A) as the third piece
12 moves downwardly as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 4A until a
position resembling that illustrated in FIG. 4B is reached with the
male protuberance being entirely received by female groove 15.
Third piece 12 is then moved into the horizontal position and the
connection is complete.
[0022] Various embodiments of the tongue and groove connections on
the short edges of third piece 12 and second piece 11 are readily
contemplated. Referring initially to FIG. 3B, it will be seen that
the rounded edge shown at 24 in FIG. 3A may instead appear as a
rounded edge 33 on the female groove 15 as illustrated in FIG. 3B.
This rounded edge 33 will serve the same function as rounded edge
24, namely creating a force between the male and female connections
23, 15 which will ensure integrity of the final connection between
third piece 12 and second piece 11.
[0023] A further embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 6A. Rather than
a single female groove 40 in second piece 11, there is a second
female groove 41 in third piece 12. As the second piece 12 is
tilted downwardly relative to first piece 10 and second piece 11,
protuberance 42 will enter into female groove 40 in second piece 11
and protuberance 43 will enter into female groove 41 in third piece
12. An interaction will occur between the rounded edge 44 of
protuberance 43 and the inside of female groove 41 in third piece
12. Indeed, as the rounded edge 44 proceeds into groove 41, an
interaction will occur between rounded edge 44 and rounded edge 50
of second piece 12 thus, again, ensuring joint integrity when the
connection process is complete.
[0024] Yet a further embodiment of the connection between the short
edges of second and third pieces 11, 12 is illustrated in FIG. 6B.
In this embodiment, a series of serrated edges 51, 52, 53, 54 are
appropriately formed in the male and female connections. Such
serrations 51, 52, 53, 54 may be formed between only one pair of
surfaces such as those surfaces 60, 61 or, alternatively, on
surfaces 62, 63 or, alternatively, on both sets of surfaces as
illustrated. The serrated surfaces allow the entry of the male
protuberance into the female groove but resist separation and
thereby increase joint integrity.
[0025] Yet a further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in
FIG. 6C. In this embodiment, a pair of serrated edges 71, 72 act
against each other during assembly while, simultaneously, a rounded
edge 73 acts on the inside of the female groove 74. Again, the
function of the interference between the serrated edges 71, 72 and
the rounded edge 73 with groove 74 is intended to tighten the joint
during assembly and ensure joint integrity.
[0026] Yet a further embodiment of the invention is illustrated in
FIG. 6D. In this embodiment, the two rounded edges 80, 81 act
against each other during assembly and when assembled, provide an
interference and, therefore a locking integrity to maintain the
boards in their assembled position.
[0027] It will also be appreciated that while the female groove is
generally described as being formed in the short edge of the second
piece of flooring with the male protuberance extending from the
short edge of the third piece of flooring, the positions could, of
course, be reversed with the female connection being formed in the
third piece and the male protuberance being formed in the edge of
the second piece.
[0028] Although the invention has been described as being
particularly useful in association with laminate flooring, it is
apparent that it would also have value for connecting solid wood
flooring and engineering wood flooring as well as virtually any
flooring made from wood based materials.
[0029] Many further embodiments will readily occur to those skilled
in the art to which the invention relates and the specific
embodiments described should be considered as illustrative of the
invention only and not as limiting its scope as defined in
accordance with the accompanying claims.
* * * * *