Mechanical locking of floor panels with a flexible tongue

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10975577-B2
Application number	US-201815896571-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 14, 2018
Priority date	Oct 22, 2004
Publication date	Apr 13, 2021
Grant date	Apr 13, 2021

Abstract

Floor panels which are provided with a mechanical locking system including an extruded flexible tongue in a sidewardly open groove which during a vertical folding motion is bent horizontally. A tongue adapted for being received in a sidewardly open groove of a floor panel, wherein the tongue, which is an elongated extruded section, when received in the groove is bendable in a plane substantially parallel with a front face of the floor panel, such that the tongue is at least partially resiliently displaceable inside said sidewardly open groove in said plane during locking of the floor panel with another floor panel and wherein a vertical protrusion, serving as a friction connection between the tongue and the groove, is arranged at an upper or lower part of the tongue, wherein the tongue has a length in the longitudinal direction of the tongue and a total width perpendicular to the length, and the total width varies in the longitudinal direction of the tongue.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A set of building panels with a tongue being received in a sidewardly open groove of a first building panel,
wherein the tongue, which is of an elongated shape, is configured to lock into a tongue groove of an adjacent second building panel,
wherein the tongue, when received in the sidewardly open groove, is bendable in a plane substantially parallel with a main plane of the first building panel, such that the tongue is at least partially resiliently displaceable in said main plane,
wherein the sidewardly open groove is curved along a curve parallel to the main plane of the first building panel,
wherein a strip is configured to cooperate, in a connected state, with a downward open locking groove formed in the second building panel, which is adjacent the first building panel,
wherein the tongue has a groove portion and a projecting portion, and
wherein:
in an unlocked position of the tongue to the tongue groove, the groove portion is located in the sidewardly open groove of the building panel and the tongue is entirely located outside the tongue groove; and

in a connected state of the tongue to the tongue groove after locking, the groove portion is located in the sidewardly open groove of the building panel and the projecting portion projects outside the sidewardly open groove and into the tongue groove.

2. The set of building panels as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the flexible tongue is made of moulded polymer material and is reinforced with fibres.

3. The set of building panels as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the flexible tongue is made of moulded polymer material and is reinforced with glass fibres.

4. The set of building panels as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tongue comprises indentations.

5. The set of building panels as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a protrusion is arranged at an upper displacement surface and/or at a lower displacement surface of the tongue.

6. The set of building panels as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tongue comprises an end part configured to be easy to grab.

Assignees

• Valinge Innovation Ab

Inventors

• Pervan Darko
• Hakansson Niclas
• Nygren Per

Classifications

• E04F15/00

  Flooring (stair treads E04F11/104; coverings not specially adapted for floors E04F13/00; borders, skirtings E04F19/02; {implements for laying flooring E04F21/20;} gratings for cleaning soles of footwear A47L23/24; {built-in gratings E04F19/10; removing floor coverings E04G23/00; carpets A47G27/00;} of similar materials to roads E01C; basic or rough floors {, structural floors} E04B5/00) · CPC title

• F16B5/00

  Joining sheets or plates {, e.g. panels,} to one another or to strips or bars parallel to them ({F16B17/00 takes precedence;} by sticking together F16B11/00; dowel connections F16B13/00; pins, including deformable elements F16B19/00; covering of walls E04F13/00; fastening signs, plates, panels or boards to a supporting structure, fastening readily-detachable elements, e.g. letters to signs, plates, panels, or boards, G09F7/00) · CPC title

• E04F15/02 Primary

  Flooring or floor layers composed of a number of similar elements (of webs E04F15/16) · CPC title

• E04F21/22

  of single elements, e.g. flooring cramps {; flexible webs (cutting tiles B28D1/225)} · CPC title

• E04F2201/0547

  adapted to be moved perpendicular to the joint edge · CPC title