Mechanical locking system for floor panels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11174646-B2
Application number	US-202016745613-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 17, 2020
Priority date	Dec 22, 2014
Publication date	Nov 16, 2021
Grant date	Nov 16, 2021

Abstract

Floor panels are shown, which are provided with a mechanical locking system that may be locked with a vertical displacement of a first panel against a second panel. The locking system includes a flexible strip that during locking bends upwardly or downwardly. The locking system includes a first and a second joint edge section with different locking functions. One section provides a horizontal locking and another section provides a vertical locking.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A set of floor panels, wherein a first edge and a second edge of each floor panel are provided with a mechanical locking system comprising a strip extending horizontally from a lower part of the first edge and a downwardly open locking groove formed in the second edge, the strip comprising an upwardly protruding locking element configured to cooperate with the locking groove for locking the first edge and the second edge,
a first edge section and a second edge section being located along both the first edge and the second edge,
wherein in a locked position:
the first edge section is configured such that an outer groove wall of the locking groove and an inner surface of the locking element lock the first edge and the second edge in a horizontal direction parallel to a main plane of the floor panels,
the second edge section is configured such that there is a space between the locking groove and the locking element, and
an upper locking surface of the locking element and a lower locking surface of the locking groove are configured to lock the first edge and the second edge in a vertical direction perpendicularly to the horizontal direction,
wherein the upper locking surface is provided in the second edge section and the first edge section is free of the upper locking surface, or wherein the lower locking surface is provided in the second edge section and the first edge section is free of the lower locking surface.

2. A set of floor panels, wherein a first edge and a second edge of each floor panel are provided with a mechanical locking system comprising a strip extending horizontally from a lower part of the first edge and a downwardly open locking groove formed in the second edge, the strip comprising an upwardly protruding locking element configured to cooperate with the locking groove for locking the first edge and the second edge,
a first edge section and a second edge section being located along both the first edge and the second edge,
wherein in a locked position:
the first edge section is configured such that an outer groove wall of the locking groove and an inner surface of the locking element lock the first edge and the second edge in a horizontal direction parallel to a main plane of the floor panels,
the second edge section is configured such that there is a space between the locking groove and the locking element, and
an upper locking surface of the locking element and a lower locking surface of the locking groove are configured to lock the first edge and the second edge in a vertical direction perpendicularly to the horizontal direction,
wherein the locking system is configured such that a vertical displacement of the second edge against the first edge during an initial stage of the vertical displacement bends the strip upwards towards a second panel of the set of floor panels such that the upper locking surface and lower locking surface overlap each other.

3. The set of floor panels according to claim 2 , wherein the upward bending is combined with a twisting and/or a compression of the strip.

4. A set of floor panels, wherein a first edge and a second edge of each floor panel are provided with a mechanical locking system comprising a strip extending horizontally from a lower part of the first edge and a downwardly open locking groove formed in the second edge, the strip comprising an upwardly protruding locking element configured to cooperate with the locking groove for locking the first edge and the second edge,
a first edge section and a second edge section being located along both the first edge and the second edge,
wherein in a locked position:
the first edge section is configured such that an outer groove wall of the locking groove and an inner surface of the locking element lock the first edge and the second edge in a horizontal direction parallel to a main plane of the floor panels,
the second edge section is configured such that there is a space between the locking groove and the locking element, wherein the space is bounded by the inner surface of the locking element in the second edge section along a horizontal plane, and
an upper locking surface of the locking element and a lower locking surface of the locking groove are configured to lock the first edge and the second edge in a vertical direction perpendicularly to the horizontal direction.

5. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , comprising a plurality of first edge sections and a plurality of second edge sections along the first edge and the second edge.

6. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the first edge section is located closer to a long edge than the second edge section.

7. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the locking system is configured to be locked with a vertical displacement of the second edge against the first edge.

8. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the upper locking surface of the locking element and the lower locking surface of the locking groove are configured to be in contact with each other in the second edge section.

9. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the space is a cavity arranged in the outer groove wall of the locking groove.

10. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the lower locking surface is essentially horizontal.

11. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein a tangent line to the lower locking surface intersects the outer groove wall of the locking groove.

12. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the upper locking surface is located in an outer surface of the locking element and the lower locking surface is located in an inner groove wall of the locking groove.

13. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the upper locking surface is spaced vertically upwards from an upper strip surface.

14. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the floor panels are essentially identical rectangular floor panels and each floor panel comprises long edges and short edges, said first edge and second edge being a first short edge and a second short edge, respectively.

15. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the outer groove wall of the locking groove and the inner surface of the locking element are in contact with each other in the first edge section along the horizontal plane.

16. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the space is provided between the outer groove wall of the locking groove and the inner surface of the locking element in the second edge section along the horizontal plane.

17. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the inner surface of the locking element is positioned closer to an upper edge of the first panel than an outer surface of the locking element and wherein the outer groove wall of the locking groove is positioned closer to an upper edge of the second panel than an inner groove wall of the locking groove.

18. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the upper locking surface of the locking element and the lower locking surface of the locking groove are configured to be in contact with each other.

19. The set of floor panels according to claim 4 , wherein the space between the outer groove wall and the inner surface is a cavity arranged in the inner surface of the locking element.

Assignees

• Ceraloc Innovation Ab

Inventors

• Pervan Darko

Classifications

• E04F15/02038 Primary

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

• E04F15/102

  of fibrous or chipped materials, e.g. bonded with synthetic resins · CPC title

• E04F2201/0146

  with snap action of the edge connectors · CPC title

• E04F2201/0161

  with snap action of the edge connectors · CPC title

• E04F2201/0176

  with snap action of the edge connectors · CPC title