High friction joint, and interlocking joints for forming a generally planar surface, and method of assembling the same

A method of assembling a planar surface from interlockable panels, each panel having a first surface lying substantially in a plane and a second surface facing opposite the first surface, and edges comprising at least one of male edges and female edges, the edges defining a perimeter of each panel and connecting the first and second surfaces, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of interlockable panels, at least one of the panels having a tongue extending outwardly from the male edge and a void extending inwardly of the tongue, and at least one of the panels having a groove extending along the female edge, the groove having at least one protrusion positioned within the groove and configured to engage the tongue by extending into the void;
• placing the first surfaces of adjacent panels within a common plane;
• manually linking the male edge of a first panel with the female edge of a second panel by relatively moving the panels towards each other in a horizontal plane, the male edge and female edge being configured to retain the linked panels in a linked condition until an adhesive is cured;
• selecting a relative position of the first panel with respect to the second panel;
• providing an adhesive on at least one edge of at least one of the first or second panels;
• and allowing the adhesive to cure,
• wherein the linking step includes the step of relatively snap-fitting the male edge into the female edge.

A method of assembling a planar surface from interlockable panels, each panel having a first surface lying substantially in a plane and a second surface facing opposite the first surface, and edges comprising at least one of male edges and female edges, the edges defining a perimeter of each panel and connecting the first and second surfaces, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of interlockable panels, at least one of the panels having a tongue extending outwardly from the male edge and a void extending inwardly of the tongue, and at least one of the panels having a groove extending along the female edge, the groove having at least one protrusion positioned within the groove and configured to engage the tongue by extending into the void;
• placing the first surfaces of adjacent panels within a common plane;
• manually linking the male edge of a first panel with the female edge of a second panel by relatively moving the panels towards each other in a horizontal plane, the male edge and female edge being configured to retain the linked panels in a linked condition until an adhesive is cured;
• selecting a relative position of the first panel with respect to the second panel;
• providing an adhesive on at least one edge of at least one of the first or second panels;
• and allowing the adhesive to cure, wherein the tongue comprises at least two flange-shaped finger, and a respective void extends between each of the fingers, and the fingers are biased outwardly away from one another as the protrusion enters the void during the linking step.

An interlockable panel for forming a generally planar surface, the panel comprising:

• a first surface lying substantially in a plane;
• a second surface facing opposite the first surface and disposed substantially parallel to and displaced from the first surface;
• a perimeter of the panel having edges extending between the first and second surfaces, the edges comprising female edges;
• wherein
• each female edge includes a groove having a protrusion positioned within the groove and extending outwardly from the groove generally parallel to the first surface,
• whereby, an adjacent panel may be linked to the interlockable panel such that the tongue engages the groove and the protrusion enters the void,
• wherein all of the edges are female edges.