System for joining building boards

A short-edge lock for use in a flooring system having a plurality of rectangular floor panels arranged in parallel panel rows, the short-edge lock for mechanically and releasably locking together adjacent short edges of pairs of adjacent floor panels in a new row during assembly of the flooring system when said adjacent floor panels are already mechanically joined to a common long edge of a floor panel in an adjacent panel row and are laying flat on a subfloor with upper corner portions of said adjacent short edges being mutually spaced apart, said short-edge lock comprising:

• locking means for forming a first mechanical connection for locking said adjacent short edges to each other in a vertical direction, and for forming a second mechanical connection for locking said adjacent short edges to each other in a horizontal direction at right angles to said short edges, said locking means including:
• (i) a locking groove extending parallel to and spaced from a first one of the adjacent short edges of one of the adjacent floor panels and being open at the rear side of said one adjacent floor panel, and
• (ii) a flexible and resilient locking strip integrated with another of the adjacent floor panels, said locking strip extending throughout substantially an entire length of a short edge of the another adjacent floor panel, said locking strip being provided with a locking element projecting from the locking strip,
• said locking means being constructed so as to operate as a one-way snap lock in said horizontal direction during the assembly of said flooring system when displacing said adjacent short edges towards each other by resiliently urging the flexible locking strip downwards until upper corner portions of said adjacent short edges have been brought into complete engagement with each other and the locking element thereby snaps into the locking groove for preventing drifting apart of said adjacent short edges.

An edge lock for use in a flooring system having a plurality of floor panels arranged in parallel panel rows and having pairs of opposite first edges and pairs of opposite second edges, the edge lock for mechanically and releasably locking together adjacent first edges of pairs of adjacent floor panels in a new row during assembly of the flooring system when said adjacent floor panels are already mechanically joined to a common second edge of a floor panel in an adjacent panel row and are laying flat on a subfloor with upper corner portions of said adjacent first edges being mutually spaced apart, said edge lock comprising:

• locking means for forming a first mechanical connection for locking said adjacent first edges to each other in a vertical direction, and for forming a second mechanical connection for locking said adjacent short edges to each other in a horizontal direction at right angles to said first edges, said locking means including:
• (i) a locking groove extending parallel to and spaced from a first one of the adjacent first edges of one of the adjacent floor panels and being open at the rear side of said one adjacent floor panel, and
• (ii) a flexible and resilient locking strip integrated with another of the adjacent floor panels, said locking strip extending throughout substantially an entire length of a first edge of the another adjacent floor panel, said locking strip being provided with a locking element projecting from the locking strip,
• said locking means being constructed so as to operate as a one-way snap lock in said horizontal direction during the assembly of said flooring system when displacing said adjacent first edges towards each other by resiliently urging the flexible locking strip downwards until upper corner portions of said adjacent first edges have been brought into complete engagement with each other and the locking element thereby snaps into the locking groove for preventing drifting apart of said adjacent first edges.

A flooring system comprising a plurality of rectangular floor panels which are mechanically connectable to each other in parallel rows along adjacent long edges and short edges, respectively, of the panels, said floor panels being provided with means for mechanically locking together their long edges as well as their short edges in a first direction at right angles to a principal plane of the panels, thereby forming first mechanical connections between the panels,

• each panel, at a rear side thereof, being provided:
• (i) with a locking strip at one long edge and at one short edge, each locking strip extending throughout substantially an entire length of the corresponding edge of the panel and being provided with a projecting locking element, and
• (ii) with a locking groove at an opposite long edge and at an opposite short edge, each locking groove extending parallel to and spaced from the corresponding edge and being open at the rear side of the panel, said locking strips and locking grooves forming second mechanical connections locking the panels to each other in a second direction parallel to the principal plane and at right angles to the joint edges such that a locking strip of a first one of two joined panels projects on the rear side of the second panel with its locking element received in the locking groove of the second panel,
• the first and the second mechanical connections are so constructed as to allow mutual displacement of the panels in the direction of the long edges,
• the second mechanical connection along the long edges is so constructed as to allow the locking element to leave the locking groove if the panel associated with the locking groove is turned about its long edge angularly away from the strip, and
• each locking strip at the short edges is flexible and resilient such that two of the floor panels, having already been mechanically joined to a common long edge of a third of the floor panels, can be mechanically joined together at their adjacent short edges by displacing said two panels horizontally towards each other, while resiliently urging the flexible strip at one of said short edges downwards, until said adjacent short edges of the two panels have been brought into complete engagement with each other horizontally and the locking element at said one short edge thereby snaps into the locking groove at the adjacent short edge.

A flooring system, comprising a plurality of floor panels which are mechanically connectable to each other in parallel rows along adjacent first edges and second edges, respectively, of the panels, said floor panels being provided with means for mechanically locking together their first edges as well as their second edges in a first direction at right angles to a principal plane of the panels, thereby forming first mechanical connections between the panels, wherein:

• each panel, at a rear side thereof, being provided:
• (i) with a locking strip at one first edge and at one second edge, each locking strip extending throughout substantially an entire length of the corresponding first edge of the panel and being provided with a projecting locking element, and
• (ii) with a locking groove at an opposite first edge and at an opposite short edge, each locking groove extending parallel to and spaced from the corresponding edge and being open at the rear side of the panel, said locking strips and locking grooves forming second mechanical connections locking the panels to each other in a second direction parallel to the principal plane and at right angles to the joint edges, such that a strip of a first one of two joined panels projects on the rear side of the second panel with its locking element received in the locking groove of the second panel,
• the first and the second mechanical connections are so constructed so as to allow mutual displacement of the panels in the direction of the first edges,
• the second mechanical connection along the first edge is so constructed as to allow the locking element to leave the locking groove if the panel associated with the locking groove is turned about its first edge angularly away from the strip, and
• each locking strip at the second edge is flexible and resilient such that two panels, having already been mechanically joined to a common first edge of a third panel, can be mechanically joined together at their adjacent second edge by displacing said two panels horizontally towards each other, while resiliently urging the flexible strip at one of said second edges downwards, until said adjacent second edges of the two panels have been brought into complete engagement with each other horizontally and the locking element at said one second edge thereby snaps into the locking groove at the adjacent second edge.