Floor panel for forming a floor covering

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10428535-B2
Application number	US-201615543880-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 15, 2016
Priority date	Jan 15, 2015
Publication date	Oct 1, 2019
Grant date	Oct 1, 2019

Abstract

Floor panel, characterized in that it is of the type that can be installed according to the fold down-technique, that it comprises coupling means in one piece on all four edges, and that measures are taken in order to avoid an undesired shifting on the long edges during the turning down of the floor panel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A floor panel for forming a floor covering including at least two such floor panels, wherein the floor panel is rectangular and oblong and comprises: a first pair of opposite edges forming long edges of the floor panel, and a second pair of opposite edges forming short edges of the floor panel; wherein each of said edges of both pairs of the long and short edges comprises a coupling part for mutual coupling of a plurality of said floor panels; wherein the coupling parts, on both pairs of edges, form a first locking system, which, in a coupled condition of two of said floor panels, effects a locking in a plane of the floor panels and perpendicular to respective edges, and form a second locking system, which, in the coupled condition of two of said floor panels, effects a locking transverse to the plane of the floor panels wherein the coupling parts on the first pair of opposite edges substantially are realized in the material of the floor panel itself; wherein the coupling parts of at least the first pair of opposite edges are configured such that two of said floor panels can be coupled to each other at the first pair of opposite edges by means of a turning movement and the coupling parts on the first pair of opposite edges consist of a tongue and a groove, and of locking parts, which, in the coupled condition, prevent shifting apart of the tongue and groove; wherein on the first pair of opposite edges the groove is bordered by a lower lip and an upper lip, of which the lower lip extends laterally further than the upper lip; wherein the coupling parts on the second pair of edges are configured such that two of said poor panels are arranged to be coupled to each other at theft edges by means of a downward movement of one of said two floor panels in respect to the other, said movement seen in cross section of these edges being substantially vertical such that a plurality of said floor panels are arranged to be coupled to each other by means of a “fold-down” technique; wherein the first locking system of the second pair of edges is at least formed of an upward-directed lower hook-shaped part, which is situated on one of said two edges and which comprises a distal extremity, and a downward-directed upper hook-shaped part, which is situated on the opposite edge and which comprises a distal extremity, wherein the lower hook-shaped part consists of a lip with an upward-directed locking element, whereas the upper hook-shaped part consists of a lip with a downward-directed locking element; wherein the second locking system of the second pair of edges is at least formed by a first vertical locking part, which is situated on said distal extremity of the lower hook-shaped part, and a second vertical locking part of the coupling part comprising the upper hook-shaped part, which cooperate together in the coupled condition of two of said floor panels; wherein the distal extremity of the upper hook-shaped part and a side of the coupling part comprising the lower hook-shaped part which, in the coupled condition, is opposite thereto, are free from mutually vertically locking portions; wherein the coupling parts on the first pair of edges are configured such that they allow a tensionless turning into each other up into a final coupled condition without building up a pre-tension, or without having to overcome a temporary elastic force; wherein the locking parts of the first locking system on the first pair of edges comprise a first contact surface on a lower side of the tongue and a second contact surface on said lower lip, the first and second contact surfaces being arranged to cooperate with each other to allow for said tensionless turning; and wherein cooperation of the first and second contact surfaces defines a tangent line, which, in respect to the horizontal, forms an angle of at least 40 degrees.

2. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein in the final coupled condition of two of such floor panels, the floor panels on the first pair of edges are coupled in a horizontal direction free from play or, if such play is present, the play is less than 0.2 mm.

3. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the coupling parts on the first pair of edges in the coupled condition form a free space between the tongue and an opposite one of said floor panels in a direction of the distal extremity of the tongue, at a same height as the contact surfaces.

4. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the first vertical locking part of the second locking system, and/or the second vertical locking part, form part of the coupling parts or the floor panels, or are supported directly towards the back, over a majority of the length of the edge concerned.

5. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the floor panel is substantially formed from synthetic material and defines a layer-shaped substrate.

6. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the floor panel substantially consists of a laminate panel with a substrate of MDF or HDF.

7. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the first and second contact surfaces define complementary curved profiles.

Assignees

• Flooring Ind Ltd Sarl

Inventors

• Van Hooydonck Guy

Classifications

• E04F2201/0161

  with snap action of the edge connectors · CPC title

• E04F2201/0146

  with snap action of the edge connectors · CPC title

• E04F15/02038 Primary

  characterised by tongue and groove connections between neighbouring flooring elements · CPC title

• E04F15/105

  of organic plastics with or without reinforcements or filling materials · CPC title