Floor panel for forming a floor covering

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10889997-B2
Application number	US-201916413986-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 16, 2019
Priority date	Jan 16, 2015
Publication date	Jan 12, 2021
Grant date	Jan 12, 2021

Abstract

A floor panel for forming a floor covering, wherein this floor panel is at least composed of a substrate; wherein the floor panel, on at least one pair of opposite edges, comprises coupling parts, which coupling parts allow that two of such floor panels can be coupled to each other by means of a downward movement of one floor panel in respect to the other floor panel; wherein these coupling parts, in the coupled condition of two of such floor panels, form a first locking system, which effects a locking in a first direction perpendicular to the plane of the floor panels, and form a second locking system, which effects a locking in a second direction perpendicular to the edges and in the plane of the floor panels.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A floor panel comprising a substrate and coupling parts on a pair of opposite edges allowing to couple two of such floor panels to each other by means of a downward movement of one floor panel with respect to the other, wherein the coupling parts include a first locking system configured to effect a locking in a direction perpendicular to a plane of coupled floor panels and a second locking system configured to effect a locking in a direction perpendicular to coupled edges and in the plane of coupled floor panels;
wherein the coupling parts substantially are formed of the material of the substrate and are realized in one piece with the substrate;
wherein the second locking system includes a downward-directed upper hook-shaped part situated on one of the edges and an upward-directed lower hook-shaped part situated on the other edge, the hook-shaped parts being engageable behind each other by means of the downward movement;
wherein the upper hook-shaped part includes a lip with a downward-directed locking element and the lower hook-shaped part includes a lip with an upward-directed locking element;
wherein the first locking system comprises locking parts situated at the distal extremity of the upper hook-shaped part and at the proximal extremity of the lower hook-shaped part respectively;
wherein the lip of the upper hook-shaped part has an underside including a first surface and a second surface, the second surface being more inwardly and lower situated than the first surface;
wherein the upward-directed locking element has an upper side running inclinedly downward in a direction towards the distal extremity of the lower hook-shaped part;
wherein the lip of the lower hook-shaped part has an incision on a lower side of the lip extending inwardly from the distal extremity of the lower hook-shaped part,
wherein the lip of the lower hook-shaped part is provided with a downward-directed recess in which said downward-directed locking element in the coupled condition is situated at least partially,
wherein the upper side of the lip of the lower hook-shaped part includes a first section and a second section, and a step between the first section and the second section, wherein the first section defines at least partially the downward-directed recess,
wherein each of the first section and the second section of the upper side of the lip of the lower hook-shaped part includes a surface that extends substantially parallel to the plane of the coupled floor panels, the surface of the first section being lower situated than the surface of the second section,
wherein a space is provided between the surface of the first section of the lip of the lower hook-shaped part and the second surface of the upper hook-shaped part or a space is provided between the surface of the second section of the lip of the lower hook-shaped part and the first surface of the upper hook-shaped part, and
wherein the incision extends from the distal extremity of the lip inwardly but does not extend further inwardly beyond the downward-directed recess of the lower hook-shaped part.

2. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the proximal extremity of the upper hook-shaped part and the distal extremity of the lower hook-shaped part is free from locking parts.

3. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the incision extends inwardly starting from a distal extremity of the lower hook-shaped part and at least up to a location where the locking elements cooperate with each other.

4. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the floor panel has a thickness of less than 6 mm.

5. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the floor panel comprises a top layer including a decor.

6. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes thermoplastic material.

7. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes polyvinyl chloride.

8. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes a filler.

9. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is foamed.

10. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the floor panel comprises a reinforcement layer of glass fiber.

11. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the incision allows that the lip is bendable downward to allow the other edge of the other of such floor panels, during coupling of the floor panels, can be pressed downward until a locking position is achieved between the floor panels.

12. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein the incision has an upper side that is situated substantially parallel to the plane of coupled floor panels.

13. The floor panel of claim 1 , wherein a space is provided between the surface of the first section of the upper side of the lip of the lower hook-shaped part and the second surface of the upper hook-shaped part.

14. A floor panel comprising a substrate and coupling parts on a pair of opposite edges allowing to couple two of such floor panels to each other by means of a downward movement of one floor panel with respect to the other, wherein the coupling parts include a first locking system configured to effect a locking in a direction perpendicular to a plane of coupled floor panels and a second locking system configured to effect a locking in a direction perpendicular to coupled edges and in the plane of coupled floor panels;
wherein the coupling parts substantially are formed of the material of the substrate and are realized in one piece with the substrate;
wherein the second locking system includes a downward-directed upper hook-shaped part situated on one of the edges and an upward-directed lower hook-shaped part situated on the other edge, the hook-shaped parts being engageable behind each other by means of the downward movement;
wherein the upper hook-shaped part includes a lip with a downward-directed locking element and the lower hook-shaped part includes a lip with an upward-directed locking element;
wherein the first locking system comprises locking parts situated at the distal extremity of the upper hook-shaped part and at the proximal extremity of the lower hook-shaped part respectively;
wherein the lip of the upper hook-shaped part has an underside including a first surface and a second, more inwardly and lower situated second surface;
wherein the upward-directed locking element has an upper side running inclinedly downward in a direction towards the distal extremity of the lower hook-shaped part;
wherein the lip of the lower hook-shaped part has an incision on a lower side of the lip extending inwardly from the distal extremity of the lower hook-shaped part but not extending further inwardly than the location of the locking part at the proximal extremity of the lower hook-shaped part, and
wherein the incision has an upper side that is situated substantially parallel to the plane of coupled floor panels.

Assignees

• Flooring Ind Ltd Sarl

Inventors

• Devos Pieter

Classifications

• E04F15/02038 Primary

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

• E04F2201/023

  with a continuous tongue or groove · CPC title

• E04F2201/0146

  with snap action of the edge connectors · CPC title

• E04F2201/041

  Tongues or grooves with slits or cuts for expansion or flexibility · CPC title

• E04F2201/0153

  by rotating the sheets, plates or panels around an axis which is parallel to the abutting edges, possibly combined with a sliding movement · CPC title