Interlocking modular floor tile
AssigneeTennessee Mat Company, Inc.
InventorsDaniel C. Fuccella, Douglas E. Alexander
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An interlocking, modular floor tile that comprises a planar member defined by a perimeter having four sides and a top surface, a plurality of downwardly projecting support legs of common length dispersed pattern-wise inside the perimeter of the planar member and coupled with the top surface, and at least one female interlocking connector element that extends outside the perimeter of the planar member for receiving a support leg of a like tile and thereby forming an interlock with the like tile.
Claims37
An interlocking, modular floor tile, comprising:
- a planar member defined by a perimeter having four sides and a top surface,
- a plurality of downwardly projecting support legs of common length dispersed pattern-wise inside the perimeter of the planar member and coupled with the top surface, the support legs being positioned such that the tile can be trimmed to a desired size and maintain connectability with female interlocking connectors of a like tile, and
- at least one female interlocking connector element that extends outside the perimeter of the planar member for receiving a support leg of a like tile and thereby forming an interlock with the like tile;
- the tile comprising a support grid coupled with the top surface of substantially common length as the projecting legs, so as to provide vertical support to the top surface.
A modular floor tile for interconnecting with similar modular floor tiles, comprising:
- a planar tile defined by a perimeter;
- a ground-engaging support grid that downwardly projects from the tile;
- a plurality of support legs of common length that are dispersed pattern-wise inside the perimeter and being coupled to the grid, the support legs having a substantially common length as the grid and being positioned such that the tile can be trimmed to a desired size and maintain connectability with female interlocking connectors of a like tile;
- and
- a plurality of female interlocking connector elements that extend outside the perimeter for receiving a support leg.
A modular tile system of interlocking floor tiles, comprising:
- at least two interlocked tiles, with each of said at least two interlocked tiles having
- a planar member that is defined by a perimeter having four sides and a width, the planar member having a downwardly projecting support grid and support legs of common length with the grid that are coupled to the planar member and pattern-wise dispersed within the perimeter of the planar member the support legs being positioned such that a tile can be cut along a line generally perpendicular to a perimeter side wall, and the support legs proximate to the cut are received by the interlock coupling devices of the adjacent tile forming a continuous, generally uniform displacement gap between a perimeter side of adjacent tiles;
- and
- at least one interlock coupling device that extends beyond said perimeter and snugly receiving a support leg of a second tile, forming a continuous, generally uniform displacement gap between the perimeters of adjacent tiles.
A transition tile for a modular tile system, comprising:
- a tile having a perimeter defined by a top surface, first, second, third, and forth side;
- a female connector extending beyond the perimeter of the first side of the perimeter;
- support legs coupled with the top surface and dispersed pattern-wise from the first side to an opposite third side to receive a female member of a corresponding transition tile to form a snug interlock, the support legs being positioned such that the tile can be trimmed to a desired size and maintain connectability with female interlocking connectors of a second tile;
- and
- a downwardly extending, ground-engaging support grid.
A method of constructing an interlocking tile floor covering, comprising:
- selecting at least two floors tile with a planar member, defined by a perimeter having four sides, a plurality of support legs of common length dispersed pattern-wise throughout and coupled with the member, at least one female interlocking connector element that extends outside the perimeter of the planar member for receiving a support leg and thereby forming an interlock, the planar member having a downwardly extending, ground-engaging support grid;
- interlocking said tiles by coupling the female connectors with a corresponding support leg;
- trimming a floor tile to correspond with the desired area desired to be covered, thus forming a trimmed floor tile;
- interlocking a support leg of the trimmed tile with a corresponding female interlocking connector of another tile.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.