Mechanical locking of floor panels with a flexible tongue

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11674319-B2
Application number	US-202117206702-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 19, 2021
Priority date	Oct 22, 2004
Publication date	Jun 13, 2023
Grant date	Jun 13, 2023

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 a total width of tongue varies in a longitudinal direction of the tongue.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A set of building panels adapted to be locked to other panels mechanically, each panel having an edge portion with a sidewardly open groove, in which groove a tongue formed as a separate part is received,
wherein the tongue is resiliently displaced inside said groove during locking of one of the building panels with another one of the building panels, and wherein the tongue includes an upper surface, a lower surface, an inclined sliding surface at the upper surface, and an inclined locking surface at the lower surface,
wherein a rounded outer part extends between the inclined sliding surface and the inclined locking surface,
wherein the other one of the building panels has an inclined sliding surface which cooperates with the inclined sliding surface of the tongue, and
wherein the inclined sliding surface of the other one of the building panels is configured to be initially above the sliding surface of the tongue during the locking and then to be below the tongue when the locking is completed.

2. The set as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tongue has a groove portion located in the groove and a projecting portion located outside the groove.

3. The set as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the groove portion comprises a protrusion to facilitate a mechanical connection between the tongue and the groove, wherein the protrusion protrudes from the groove portion.

4. The set as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the tongue is connected to the groove by a friction connection.

5. The set as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tongue is made of polymer material.

6. The set as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the tongue is made of a molded or extruded polymer material reinforced with glass fiber.

7. The set as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the polymer material is a thermoplastic material.

8. The set as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the projecting portion comprises the inclined sliding surface.

9. The set as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the projecting portion comprises the inclined locking surface.

10. The set as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tongue is bent during locking.

11. The set as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the other one of the building panels comprises a tongue groove which is configured to cooperate with the projecting portion of the tongue.

12. The set as claimed in claim 11 , wherein a locking surface of the tongue groove is configured to cooperate with the inclined locking surface of the tongue for maintaining a locked position between panels when locking is completed.

13. The set as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, during locking, the tongue is resiliently displaced within the sidewardly open groove while the sliding surface of the tongue slides against the inclined sliding surface of the other one of the building panels.

Assignees

• Vaelinge Innovation Ab
• Valinge Innovation Ab

Inventors

• Pervan Darko
• Håkansson Niclas
• Nygren Per

Classifications

• E04F2201/0115

  with snap action of the edge connectors · CPC title

• E04F2201/023

  with a continuous tongue or groove · CPC title

• F16B5/008

  by a rotating or sliding and rotating movement · CPC title

• E04F2201/0582

  of fibres or chips, e.g. bonded with synthetic resins · CPC title

• E04F2201/0138

  by moving the sheets, plates or panels perpendicular to the main plane · CPC title