Mechanical locking of floor panels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9340974-B2
Application number	US-201314095052-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2013
Priority date	Jan 31, 2008
Publication date	May 17, 2016
Grant date	May 17, 2016

Abstract

Floor panels are shown, which are provided with a mechanical locking system comprising tongue and grooves provided with protrusions and cavities which are displaceable in relation to each other and configured such that the protrusions can obtain a vertically unlocked position where they match the cavities and a vertically locked position where the protrusions overlap each other.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method to install floor panels with a mechanical angling locking system at long edges and a mechanical locking system at short edges, the mechanical locking system at short edges comprising a tongue and a tongue groove each provided with protrusions and cavities, the method comprising the steps of:
bringing a new panel and a second panel into a position where upper parts of the short edges of the new panel and the second panel are in contact, in which position the new panel and the second panel are in the same plane and in a second row with the long edges offset and with the short edges unlocked vertically and, optionally, locked horizontally;
displacing one of the new panel or the second panel along the short edges until the long edges of the new panel and the second panel are aligned and some of the protrusions at one of the short edges vertically overlaps some of the protrusions at the other of the short edges to lock the short edges vertically and horizontally;
bringing the aligned long edges of both the second panel and the new panel from being out of contact with a long edge of a first panel in a first row to being in contact with the long edge of the first panel in the first row; and
angling down the second panel and the new panel along the aligned long edges to lock the long edges of the first panel, the second panel, and the new panel vertically and horizontally.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the second panel and the new panel are in an angled position in relation to the first panel in the position when the short edges of the new panel and the second panel are in contact.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the upper parts of the long edges of the first panel and the second panel are in contact in the position when the short edges of the new panel and the second panel are in contact.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the method further comprises the step of bringing the upper parts of the short edges of the new panel and the second panel into contact by an essentially vertical motion.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the method comprises the step of locking the short edges horizontally by the vertical motion.

6. A method to install floor panels with a mechanical angling locking system at long edges and a mechanical locking system at short edges, the mechanical locking system at short edges comprising a tongue groove and a displaceable tongue whereby the said tongue and tongue groove each comprises protrusions and cavities configured such that adjacent short edges can obtain a vertically unlocked position where the protrusions of one of the adjacent short edges match the cavities of the other adjacent short edge and a vertically locked position where some of the protrusions of respectively adjacent short edges vertically overlap each other, the method comprising the steps of:
connecting long edges of a second panel and a new panel in a second row to a long edge of a first panel in a first row with angling;
positioning the second panel and the new panel in essentially the same plane and with the adjacent short edges of the new panel and the second panel in contact without vertically locking the adjacent short edges to each other; and
after the positioning step, displacing the displaceable tongue along the vertically unlocked adjacent short edges to a position where some of the protrusions, of the adjacent short edges, overlap each other to lock the adjacent short edges vertically.

7. A method to install, on a subfloor, floor panels with a mechanical locking system at long edges, the mechanical locking system at the long edges comprising protrusions and cavities, and a mechanical locking system at short edges, the mechanical locking system at the short edges comprising a displaceable locking element that is displaceable in a vertical direction relative to the short edge having the displaceable locking element and allows horizontal snapping of short edges, whereby said long edges can obtain a vertically and/or horizontally unlocked position where the protrusions of one long edge match the cavities in another adjacent long edge and a vertically and/or horizontally locked position where some of the protrusions, of the adjacent long edge, overlap each other vertically and/or horizontally, the method comprising the steps of:
locking, at least partially vertically and horizontally, the long edge of a first panel in a first row to a long edge of a second panel in a second row;
connecting the long edge of a new panel in the second row to the first panel in the first row by sliding the new panel horizontally, while the first panel is parallel to the subfloor, toward the first panel until the adjacent long edges of the new panel and the first panel are in contact; and
displacing the new panel along the long edge of the first panel to a position where some of the protrusions of the new panel and the first panel overlap each other and until a short edge of the new panel snaps into an adjacent short edge of the second panel by displacement of the displaceable locking element in the vertical direction relative to the short edge having the displaceable locking element.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the displaceable locking element is formed of a material that is different than a material of the core of the floor panels.

9. The method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the displaceable locking element is displaced inside a locking groove of the short edge having the displaceable locking element while the new panel snaps into an adjacent short edge of the second panel.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the new panel and the second panel are brought into contact without angling of the new panel relative to the second panel.

11. The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the displacing step includes displacing the displaceable tongue relative to the adjacent short edges that are in contact with each other.

12. The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the displaceable tongue is formed of a material that is different than a material of the core of the floor panels.

Assignees

• Vaelinge Innovation Ab
• Valinge Innovation Ab

Inventors

• Pervan Darko
• Håkansson Niclas
• Sjöstrand Mattias
• Boo Christian
• Pålsson Agne

Classifications

• E04F2201/022

  with tongue or grooves alternating longitudinally along the edge · CPC title

• Y10T83/04

  Processes · CPC title

• E04F2201/0523

  Separate tongues; Interlocking keys, e.g. joining mouldings of circular, square or rectangular shape · CPC title

• E04F21/0092

  Separate provisional spacers used between adjacent floor or wall tiles (E04F13/0889, E04F15/02005 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E04F2201/041

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