Floor panel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10041259-B2
Application number	US-201715724898-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 4, 2017
Priority date	May 10, 2010
Publication date	Aug 7, 2018
Grant date	Aug 7, 2018

Abstract

A floor panel has a rectangular and oblong shape, and includes a substrate and a top layer provided on the substrate and forming a decorative side of the floor panel. The top layer is composed of a print provided on a carrier sheet and a transparent thermoplastic layer situated above the print. The substrate has a thickness from 2 to 10 millimeter and forms at least half of the thickness of the floor panel. The substrate is a polyurethane-based substrate and the transparent thermoplastic layer is polyurethane-based. The floor panel has a length of more than 1.1 meters and has a plurality of reinforcing layers situated outside the center line of the substrate. A reinforcing layer may be provided in combination with the substrate and the top layer.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A floor panel having a rectangular and oblong shape, the floor panel comprising:
a substrate; and
a top layer provided on the substrate and forming a decorative side of the floor panel;
wherein the top layer is at least composed of a print provided on a carrier sheet and a transparent thermoplastic layer situated above the print;
wherein the substrate has a thickness from 2 to 10 millimeter and forms at least half of the thickness of the floor panel;
wherein the substrate is a polyurethane-based substrate and the transparent thermoplastic layer is polyurethane-based, wherein the floor panel has a length of more than 1.1 meters and further comprises a plurality of reinforcing layers situated outside the center line of the substrate.

2. The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein at least one reinforcing layer is at each side of the center line.

3. The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein at least one reinforcing layer is located in the top layer underneath the print.

4. The floor panel according to claim 3 , wherein at least one reinforcing layer is embedded in the substrate at a location closer to the decorative side.

5. The floor panel according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one reinforcing layer is a glass fiber mat or glass fabric layer.

6. The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein the floor panel is provided at at least one pair of edges with mechanical coupling parts allowing that two of such floor panels can be coupled to each other, such that a locking is obtained in a vertical direction perpendicular to the plane of the coupled panels, and in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the coupled edge and in the plane of the panels, wherein the coupling parts are realized substantially in the substrate.

7. The floor panel according to claim 6 , wherein the mechanical coupling parts substantially are realized as a tongue and a groove bordered by an upper lip and a lower lip, wherein the tongue and groove substantially are responsible for the locking in a vertical direction, and wherein the tongue and groove are provided with additional locking parts, substantially responsible for the locking in a horizontal direction, and wherein the coupling parts allow a coupling by means of a turning movement along the respective edges.

8. The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein the floor panels have a width between 14 and 22 centimeters, and a length between 118 and 220 centimeters.

Assignees

• Flooring Ind Ltd Sarl

Inventors

• Meersseman Laurent
• Vanhastel Luc

Classifications

• E04F15/107 Primary

  composed of several layers, e.g. sandwich panels (layered products in general B32B; producing decorative panels or veneers B44C5/04) · CPC title

• E04F15/02033

  Joints with beveled or recessed upper edges · CPC title

• Y10T428/24488

  Differential nonuniformity at margin · CPC title

• E04F2201/0535

  adapted for snap locking · CPC title

• E04F2201/023

  with a continuous tongue or groove · CPC title