Mechanical locking of floor panels with a flexible bristle tongue
AssigneeVälinge Innovation AB
InventorsDarko Pervan, Agne Paisson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Floor panels are provided with a mechanical locking system including a displaceable tongue in a displacement groove. The tongue is molded and provided with bendable protrusions.
Claims29
A set of essentially identical floor panels, each of the floor panels comprising first and second connectors which are integrated with the floor panels and configured to connect a first floor panel to a second floor panel so that upper joint edges of said first and second floor panels in the connected state define a vertical plane,
- the first connector comprising an upwardly directed locking element at one of the floor panels cooperating with a locking groove in the other of said floor panels for connecting said first floor panel with said second floor panel in a horizontal direction perpendicular to said vertical plane,
- the second connector comprising a flexible tongue of molded plastic in a displacement groove in an edge of one of the floor panels, the displacement groove including an upper wall, a lower wall, and a side wall connecting the upper and lower walls, the flexible tongue is configured to cooperate with a tongue groove in the other of said floor panels for locking the floor panels together in a vertical direction parallel to the vertical plane,
- the flexible tongue is displaceable in the horizontal direction in the displacement groove,
- the tongue comprising at least two protrusions at a first long edge of the tongue, bendable in the horizontal plane, and extending essentially in the horizontal direction, the first long edge of the tongue is in the displacement groove and faces the sidewall, and
- the tongue has a second long edge which in the connected state extends outside the displacement groove beyond the vertical plane and the outer edge of the second long edge is essentially straight over substantially the whole length of the tongue.
A tongue for a building panel, said tongue is of an elongated shape and made of molded plastic, wherein the tongue comprises a plurality of protrusions at a first long edge of the tongue, the first long edge of the tongue comprising a respective recess at each protrusion, and
- the protrusions are bendable in a plane parallel to the upper surface of the tongue and extend essentially in the parallel plane, at least two protrusions extend in the same direction along a longitudinal direction of the tongue,
- at least a portion of each protrusion is adapted to contact an inner surface of the respective recess when the protrusions bend in the plane parallel to the upper surface of the tongue, and
- the tongue has a second long edge, which is essentially straight over substantially the whole length of the tongue.
A tongue for a building panel, said tongue is of an elongated shape and made of molded plastic, wherein the tongue comprises a plurality of protrusions at a first long edge of the tongue, the first long edge of the tongue comprising a respective recess at each protrusion, and
- the protrusions are bendable in a plane parallel to the upper surface of the tongue, extend essentially in the parallel plane and are bow shaped along a longitudinal axis of the tongue, at least two protrusions extend in the same direction along a longitudinal direction of the tongue,
- at least a portion of each protrusion is adapted to contact an inner surface of the respective recess when the protrusions bend in the plane parallel to the upper surface of the tongue, and
- the tongue has a second long edge, which is essentially straight over substantially the whole length of the tongue.
A tongue for a building panel, said tongue is of an elongated shape and made of molded plastic, wherein the tongue comprises at least two protrusions at a first long edge of the tongue, the first long edge of the tongue comprising a respective recess at each protrusion, and
- the protrusions are bendable in a plane parallel to the upper surface of the tongue and all extend in the same direction along a longitudinal direction of the tongue and essentially in the parallel plane,
- at least a portion of each protrusion is adapted to contact an inner surface of the respective recess when the protrusions bend in the plane parallel to the upper surface of the tongue, and
- the tongue has a second long edge, which is essentially straight over substantially the whole length of the tongue.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.