Floor panels provided with a mechanical locking system comprising a separate material in order to reduce snapping resistance during vertical displacement. For example, a separate flexible tongue, the flexible tongue including an inner part, which is connected to a holding groove at a second edge, and an outer flexible snap tab that extends upwardly and in the connected state into a cavity under a protruding tongue for locking a first and a second floor panel to each other in a vertical direction.

A floor panel is arranged for forming a floor covering, and substantially consists of synthetic material and has a decorative upper side. The floor panel, on at least one pair of opposite edges, comprises coupling parts which allow coupling two of such floor panels to each other. The coupling parts effect a locking in a first direction perpendicular to the plane of the floor panels as well as in a second direction perpendicular to the respective edge and in the plane of the floor panels. The at least one of the coupling parts comprises a separate locking element, which, in coupled condition, provides for at least a locking in the first direction.

Panel comprising a horizontally and a vertically active locking system, so that two such floor panels can be connected by means of a downward movement. The vertically active locking system comprises a locking element formed by an insert, formed by a coextruded strip. This comprises a blocking body, a securing section and a bending zone. The blocking body is substantially made of a first polymer; the bending zone is substantially made of a second polymer. The blocking body is substantially or entirely made of a mixture of the first polymer and the second polymer, or the bending zone is substantially or entirely made of a mixture of the second polymer and the first polymer.

A floor panel has a rectangular and oblong shape, and includes a substrate and a top layer provided on the substrate and forming a decorative side of the floor panel. The top layer is composed of a print provided on a carrier sheet and a transparent thermoplastic layer situated above the print. The substrate has a thickness from 2 to 10 millimeter and forms at least half of the thickness of the floor panel. The substrate is a polyurethane-based substrate and the transparent thermoplastic layer is polyurethane-based. The floor panel has a length of more than 1.1 meters and has a plurality of reinforcing layers situated outside the center line of the substrate. A reinforcing layer may be provided in combination with the substrate and the top layer.

A machine for inserting a tongue in an insertion groove in a panel. An operation of the machine involves displacing a first tongue to an end position of a tongue queue, which includes tongues under compression, in a tongue queue device, compressing the first tongue, displacing the tongues in the tongue queue by compression forces from the tongues under compression, displacing a second tongue, which is at a front position of the tongue queue, to an inserting device, displacing the second tongue into an insertion groove in a panel by the inserting device.

A panel includes a top side, a bottom side and a first edge extending between the top and bottom side and having a first coupling part; and a second edge extending between the top and bottom side and having a second coupling part. The coupling parts make it possible to produce a horizontal and vertical lock between two such panels by means of a vertical movement of the one panel with respect to the other panel.

Floor panel, with a horizontally and vertically active locking system allowing that two of such floor panels can be connected to each other at said sides by providing one of these floor panels, by means of a downward movement, in the other floor panel; wherein the vertically active locking system comprises a locking element in the form of an insert; wherein this locking element comprises at least a pivotable lock-up body; characterized in that the pivotable lock-up body comprises a support portion which is rotatable against a support surface pertaining to the floor panel concerned, and more particularly in a seat.

Floor panels which are provided with a mechanical locking system including an extruded flexible tongue in a sidewardly open groove which during a vertical folding motion is bent horizontally. A tongue adapted for being received in a sidewardly open groove of a floor panel, wherein the tongue, which is an elongated extruded section, when received in the groove is bendable in a plane substantially parallel with a front face of the floor panel, such that the tongue is at least partially resiliently displaceable inside said sidewardly open groove in said plane during locking of the floor panel with another floor panel and wherein a vertical protrusion, serving as a friction connection between the tongue and the groove, is arranged at an upper or lower part of the tongue, wherein a total width of tongue varies in a longitudinal direction of the tongue.

A panel may include at a substrate and a top layer provided on the substrate. The top layer may include a motif and a transparent or translucent synthetic material layer provided above the motif. The motif may be a print formed by digitally applying inks on the substrate with the intermediary of one or more primer layers extending underneath the print. The transparent or translucent synthetic material layer may include polypropylene and have a thickness of less than 1 millimeter.

A floor panel has a rectangular and oblong shape, and includes a substrate and a top layer provided on the substrate and forming a decorative side of the floor panel. The top layer is composed of a print provided on a carrier sheet and a transparent thermoplastic layer situated above the print. The substrate has a thickness from 2 to 10 millimeter and forms at least half of the thickness of the floor panel. The substrate is a polyurethane-based substrate and the transparent thermoplastic layer is polyurethane-based. The floor panel has a length of more than 1.1 meters and has a plurality of reinforcing layers situated outside the center line of the substrate. A reinforcing layer may be provided in combination with the substrate and the top layer.