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US 6,802,159 B1Granted
Roll-up floor tile system and the method
AssigneeSnap Lock Industries, Inc.
InventorDaniel Kotler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A plurality of interlocking tile pieces form a generally flat traffic-carrying surface. The tile are locked together in a manner to form a plurality of non-bendable tile joints. The tile includes a hinge or fold line along a first axis and a hinge or fold line along a second axis. The hinges allow the multi-tile traffic carrying surface to be rolled up into a hollow tube from any direction along one of the axes, beginning at any edge of the traffic carrying surface. The rolled-up floor covering is made up of a plurality of tile panels.
Claims20
Tile for use in forming a generally flat and multi-tile traffic-carrying surface, said tile comprising:
- a generally planar and square structural member having a 4d-by-4d outer dimension and having a top traffic-carrying surface and a bottom surface;
- said square structural member having a first edge, a second edge that is parallel to said first edge, a third edge, and a fourth edge that is parallel to said third edge;
- locking members located on said first, second, third and fourth edges for locking said tile to adjacent tile in a manner to form a generally non-bendable tile joint between said tile and said adjacent tile;
- a first set of two bend line areas formed in said tile, said two bend line areas of said first set being parallel to, and located at a distance d from, said first and second edges respectively;
- a second set of two bend line areas formed in said tile, said two bend line areas of said second set being parallel to, and located at a distance d from, said third and fourth edges respectively;
- such that a multi-tile traffic carrying surface having a plurality of said tile locked together can be rolled up, beginning at any edge of the traffic carrying surface, into a tube having an axis;
- said tube having tile panels of a width 2d that extend parallel to said axis.
4 more elements
Tile for use in forming a generally flat and multi-tile traffic-carrying surface, said tile comprising:
- a generally planar and square structural member having a 4d-by-4d outer dimension and having a top traffic-carrying surface and a bottom surface;
- said square structural member having a first edge, a second edge that is parallel to said first edge, a third edge, and a fourth edge that is parallel to said third edge;
- locking members located on said first, second, third and fourth edges for locking said tile to adjacent tile in a manner to form a generally non-bendable tile joint between said tile and said adjacent tile;
- a first set of two bend line areas formed in said tile, said two bend line areas of said first set being parallel to, and located at a distance d from, said first and second edges respectively;
- a second set of two bend line areas formed in said tile, said two bend line areas of said second set being parallel to, and located at a distance d from, said third and fourth edges respectively;
- such that a multi-tile traffic carrying surface having a plurality of said tile locked together can be rolled up, beginning at any edge of the traffic carrying surface, into a tube having an axis;
- said tube having tile panels of a width 2d that extend parallel to said axis wherein said first and second bend line areas include bend lines formed in said top surface.
4 more elements
A method of making a generally rigid and flat floor that can be rolled up into a hollow tube for storage, comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of rigid, flat, and square tile;
- interlocking said plurality of tile to form a generally rigid and flat floor;
- providing that said plurality of tile are interlocked in a manner to form a plurality of generally non-bendable tile joints;
- providing that each of said tile has a 4d-by-4d outer dimension;
- providing two bend line areas in each of each of said tile parallel to, and at a distance d from, a first tile edge and its opposite tile edge;
- and
- providing two bend line areas in each tile parallel to, and at a distance d from, a second tile edge and its opposite tile edge;
- such that said generally rigid and flat floor can be rolled up into a hollow tube having an axis, beginning at any edge of said flat floor;
- said hollow tube being made up of flat panels having a width of 2d that extend parallel to said axis of said tube.
6 more elements
Tile for use in assembling a multi-tile floor that can be rolled up into a hollow tube, said tile comprising:
- a unitary and rigid tile member having a 90-degree quadrilateral planar shape;
- said rigid tile member having a first width-edge, an opposite width-edge, and a width W;
- said rigid tile member having a first length-edge, an opposite length-edge, and a length L;
- a first bend line area formed in said rigid tile member parallel to said first width-edge and spaced from said first width-edge by a distance W/4;
- a second bend line area formed in said rigid tile member parallel to said opposite width-edge and spaced from said opposite width edge by a distance W/4;
- a third bend line area formed in said rigid tile member parallel to said first length-edge and spaced from said first length-edge by a distance L/4;
- a fourth bend line area formed in said rigid tile member parallel to said opposite length-edge and spaced from said opposite length-edge by the distance L/4;
- and
- tile interlocking means formed on said first width-edge, said opposite width-edge, said first length-edge and said opposite length-edge for use in forming generally non-bendable tile joint lines between adjacent tile of said multi-tile floor.
6 more elements
Tile for use in assembling a multi-tile floor that can be rolled up into a hollow tube as desired, said tile comprising:
- a unitary and rigid tile member having a 90-degree quadrilateral planar shape;
- said rigid tile member having a first width-edge, an opposite width-edge, and a width W;
- said rigid tile member having a first length-edge, an opposite length-edge, and a length L;
- a first bend line area formed in said rigid tile member;
- said first bend line area being selectively located either parallel to said a first width-edge and spaced from said first width-edge by a distance W/4, or parallel to said first length-edge and spaced from said first length-edge by a distance L/4;
- a second bend line area formed in said rigid tile member;
- said second bend line area being located parallel to said opposite width-edge and spaced from said opposite width edge by a distance W/4 when said first bend line area is located parallel to said a first width-edge and is spaced from said first width-edge by said distance W/4;
- said second bend line area being located parallel to said opposite length-edge and spaced from said opposite length edge by a distance L/4 when said first bend line area is located parallel to said first length-edge and is spaced from said first length-edge by said distance L4;
- and
- tile interlocking means formed on said first width-edge, said opposite width-edge, said first length-edge and said opposite length-edge for use in forming generally non-bendable tile joint lines between adjacent tile of said multi-tile floor.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.