Floating floor system, floor panel, and installation method for the same

A floating floor system comprising:

• a plurality of panels, each of the panels having a panel length LP measured along a longitudinal axis and comprising:
• a body;
• a first flange extending from a first lateral edge of the body;
• a second flange extending from a second lateral edge of the body;
• X number of spaced apart teeth protruding from a first surface of the first flange, each of the teeth extending a tooth length LT;
• a plurality of spaced apart slots formed in a first surface of the second flange, each of the slots extending a slot length LS;
• and
• wherein LS−LT is greater than or equal to 6 mm;
• wherein X and LT are such that when first and second ones of the plurality of panels are interlocked so that the teeth of the first panel are located in the slots of the second panel, the teeth exert a horizontal resistance force FHR per unit length of the teeth in response to a horizontal separation force FHS applied to the first and second panels before the first and second panels separate, the horizontal resistance force FHR corresponding to a horizontal locking strength HLS per unit length of LP that is greater than or equal to a predetermined lower threshold value;
• wherein X and LT are such that when first and second ones of the plurality of panels are interlocked so that the teeth of the first panel are located in the slots of the second panel, the teeth exert the horizontal resistance force FHR per unit length of the teeth in response to the horizontal separation force FHS applied to the first and second panels before the first and second panels separate, the horizontal resistance force FHR corresponding to the horizontal locking strength HLS per unit length of LP being in a predetermined range, the predetermined range bounded by the lower threshold value and an upper threshold value;
• wherein the horizontal separation force FHS is applied by separating the interlocked first and second panels at a horizontal separation rate;
• and
• wherein the predetermined lower threshold value is 13 N/mm and the upper threshold value is less than or equal to 15 N/mm when the horizontal separation rate is in a range of 20 mm/min to 30 mm/min.

A method of installing a plurality of floor panels to create a floating floor system, each of the floor panels comprising a body having a longitudinal axis, an upper flange extending from a first lateral edge of the body, a lower flange extending from a second lateral edge of the body, a plurality of spaced apart teeth protruding from a lower surface of the upper flange, each of the teeth extending a tooth length LT, a plurality of spaced apart slots formed in an upper surface of the lower flange, each of the slots extending a slot length LS, the method comprising:

• a) coupling a plurality of first row floor panels together in an end-to-end axial alignment to form a first row of floor panels, wherein a first row starter floor panel is in abutment with a vertical obstruction;
• b) interlocking a second row starter floor panel of a second row of the floor panels to one or more of the first row floor panels by overlapping the lower flanges of the one or more first row floor panels with the upper flange of the second row starter floor panel so that the teeth of the second row starter floor panel are located within the slots of one or more first row floor panels, wherein the one or more first row floor panels comprises the first row starter floor panel and a gap exists between a proximal edge of the second row starter floor panel and the vertical obstruction;
• and
• c) sliding the second row starter floor panel toward the vertical obstruction to eliminate the gap while the second row starter floor panel remains interlocked to the one or more first row floor panels.