Hard floor panel for floating installation with the formation of a flooring panel network

Abstract

Provided is a hard floor panel having a top side and a bottom side and having side edges along the panel sides for floating installation to form a floor panel composite. At least two floor panels are joined together in each case, the opposite side edges being provided with tongue-and-groove profiles, a tongue and a joining surface is provided in a first side edge and a groove and a joining surface is provided in a second opposite side edge. The tongue of the first side edge has an upper side and a lower side. A projection with a contact surface is provided on the lower side of the tongue. The joining surface of the first side edge extends from the upper side of the floor panel towards the upper tongue side and the joining surface is beveled.

Claims

1. A hard floor panel with a core made of a wood-based panel, a wood-based plastic panel or a plastic panel with a top side and a bottom side and with side edges along the panel sides for floating installation to form a floor panel composite, wherein at least two floor panels are joined together, wherein the opposite side edges are provided with tongue and groove profiles, wherein a tongue and a joining surface are provided in a first side edge and a groove and a joining surface are provided in a second opposite side edge, wherein the tongue of the first side edge has an upper side and a lower side; wherein a projection with a contact surface is provided on the lower side of the tongue; wherein the joining surface of the first side edge extends from the upper side of the floor panel towards the upper side of the tongue, wherein the groove in the second side edge has an upper side and a lower side, wherein the upper side of the groove is bounded by an upper lip and the lower side of the groove is bounded by a lower lip; wherein a recess with a contact surface is provided in the lower lip of the groove; wherein the joining surface of the second side edge extends from the upper side of the floor panel along the upper lip, wherein, in the joined state of at least two floor panels, the projection of the tongue engages in the recess of the lower lip of the groove so that the contact surfaces of the protrusion of the tongue and the recess of the lower lip of the groove exert a clamping force on each other; and wherein the joining surface of the first side edge is formed to extend at right angles to the upper side of the floor panel, and the joining surface of the second side edge is beveled and inclined inwards from the upper side of the floor panel, away from the vertical towards the groove, or the joining surface of the first side edge is beveled and is inclined inwardly from the upper side of the floor panel, away from the vertical and away from the tongue, and the joining surface of the second side edge is designed to run at right angles to the top of the floor panel, so that the angle between the top of the panel and the respective joining surface of the side edges is no longer right-angled, but forms an acute angle of between 85 and 89, and that the right-angled and beveled joining surfaces of the first side edge of a tongue profiling and the joining surface of the second side edge of a groove profiling are in contact with each other in the joined state of at least two floor panels, a line pressure occurs along the joining surfaces of the side edges of the tongue profiling and the groove profiling.

2. The floor panel according to claim 1, wherein the bevel of the joining surface of the first side edge of the tongue profiling from the upper side of the floor panel towards the upper side of the tongue is between 1 and 5.

3. The floor panel according to claim 1, wherein the bevel of the joining surface of the second side edge of the groove profiling from the upper side of the floor panel along the upper lip of the groove is between 1 and 5.

4. The floor panel according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of the tongue corresponds to a width of the groove.

5. The floor panel according to claim 1, wherein the recess is provided in the lower lip of the groove in a portion located in the lower lip of the groove extending beyond the upper lip of the groove.

6. The floor panel according to claim 1, wherein at least one saddle is provided in the recess of the lower lip of the groove.

7. The floor panel according to claim 1, wherein the tongue-and-groove profiles comprise at least one of: rounding at corners of the tongue and groove profiles; dust chambers between all sides of the interlocking floor panels; ramp surface at a free end of the lower lip of the groove; and contact surfaces formed by the upper surface of the tongue and the lower surface of the upper lip, wherein the contact surfaces formed by the upper surface of the tongue and the lower surface of the upper lip are substantially parallel to the plane defined by the floor panels.

8. The floor panel according to claim 1, wherein the tongue-and-groove profiles enable at least two floor panels to be joined together by placing a first floor panel at an angle against a horizontally arranged second floor panel, followed by pivoting the first floor panel downwards in the direction of the laying plane.

9. The floor panel according to claim 1, comprising a rectangular shape, the tongue-and-groove profiles being provided on the longitudinal side edges and on transverse side edges.

10. The floor panel according to claim 9, wherein the tongue and groove profiles are the same or different from each other in the longitudinal side edges and in the transverse side edges.

11. The floor panel according to claim 1, wherein the panels have a core of a high-density fiberboard (HDF) or medium-density fiberboard (MDF), or a wood plastic composite (WPC), or a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) carrier board.

12. A method for floatingly laying floor panels according to claim 1, forming a floor panel composite comprising the following steps: laying the first floor panel, attaching a second floor panel to the first floor panel, wherein the tongue of the second floor panel is inserted into the groove of the first floor panel, and wherein the lower lip of the groove profiling is bent outwards in the assembled state, so that the lower lip provides a force such that the panels are permanently forced towards each other.

13. A floor panel network obtainable by a method according to claim 12.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The solution is explained in detail below by means of the figures with reference to the following embodiments.

(2) FIG. 1A shows a schematic cross-section of a floor panel with a thickness of 4.5 mm with a tongue profiling according to a first embodiment (transverse profile);

(3) FIG. 1B shows a schematic cross-section of a floor panel with a thickness of 4.5 mm with a groove profiling according to a first embodiment (transverse profile);

(4) FIG. 1C shows a schematic cross-section of two joined floor panels with the tongue profiling shown in FIG. 1A and the groove profiling shown in FIG. 1B;

(5) FIG. 2A shows a schematic cross-section of a floor panel with a thickness of 4.5 mm with a tongue profiling according to a second embodiment (longitudinal profile);

(6) FIG. 2B shows a schematic cross-section of a floor panel with a thickness of 4.5 mm with a groove profiling according to a second embodiment (longitudinal profile);

(7) FIG. 2C shows a schematic cross-section of 2 assembled floor panels with the tongue profiling shown in FIG. 2A and the groove profiling shown in FIG. 2B;

(8) FIG. 3A shows a schematic cross-section of a floor panel with a thickness of 12 mm with a tongue profiling according to a third embodiment (transverse profile);

(9) FIG. 3B shows a schematic cross-section of a floor panel with a thickness of 12 mm with a groove profiling according to a third embodiment (transverse profile);

(10) FIG. 4A shows a schematic cross-section of a floor panel with a thickness of 12 mm with a tongue profiling according to a fourth embodiment (longitudinal profile); and

(11) FIG. 4B shows a schematic cross-section of a floor panel with a thickness of 12 mm with a groove profiling according to a fourth embodiment (longitudinal profile).

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(12) The solution is explained for rectangular floor panels, which can be joined together both at their longitudinal sides and at their transverse sides, or only at one side.

(13) Thus, the tongue profiling shown in FIG. 1A and the groove profiling shown in FIG. 1B are provided in the transverse sides of the floor panels, i.e. in the shorter sides, according to the first embodiment, while the profiling shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B is inserted in the longitudinal sides of the floor panels according to the second embodiment.

(14) The present floor panels have a rectangular shape with side edges 10, 20 extending along the longitudinal sides and transverse sides of the panel and are suitable for floating installation forming a floor panel.

(15) The floor panels typically have a length of one to 2 m. The thickness of the panels can also vary, but is 4.5 mm in the embodiments described in FIGS. 1A-C and 2A-C.

(16) Each floor panel has tongue-and-groove profiling on the opposite edges 10, 20, as described in detail below, which enables 2 adjacent floor panels to be joined together. Here, a tongue 11 is provided in a first side edge 10 and a groove 21 is provided in the second opposite side edge 20.

(17) FIG. 1A shows a first tongue profile provided for a transverse side of the floor panel. The tongue 11 of the tongue profile of the first side edge 10 has an upper side 12 and a lower side 13.

(18) The distance of the upper side of the tongue 12 from the upper side of the panel or panel surface 2 and the distance of the lower side of the tongue 13 from the lower side of the panel 3 can vary depending on the panel thickness.

(19) The top side 12 of the tongue 11 has a planar surface 19 that is horizontally disposed with respect to the panel top side. The length of the upper side of the tongue may be the same in the transverse profile (FIG. 1A) and longitudinal profile (FIG. 2A), while the length of the lower side of the tongue in the transverse profile is greater than the length of the lower side of the tongue in the longitudinal profile.

(20) The lower side of the tongue 11 has a bevel or chamfer 17 at its edge with an angle between 45-55.

(21) The projection 14 with a contact surface 15 is provided on the lower side 13 of the tongue. The projection 14 has an inclination between 10 (transverse profile) and 44 (longitudinal profile) with respect to the flat, horizontal section of the bottom side 13 of the tongue.

(22) The length and height of the projection 14 also vary depending on the design of the tongue as a transverse profile or longitudinal profile.

(23) The tongue profile of FIG. 1A has a joining surface 16 at the side edge, which extends from the upper side 2 of the floor panel towards the upper tongue side 12 and has a bevel or slope from the upper side of the floor panel towards the upper tongue side. The bevel of the joining surface 16 extends at an angle of 1 with respect to the perpendicular to the upper side of the flooring panel. Thus, the joining surface 16 has an inward slope away from the perpendicular.

(24) A recess 16a is provided at the transition of the joining surface 16 of the tongue profiling to the upper side 12 of the tongue.

(25) The groove 21 provided in the second side edge 20 of the floor panel 1 according to the illustration of FIG. 1B has an upper side and a lower side, the upper side of the groove 21 being defined by an upper lip 22 and the lower side of the groove being defined by a lower lip 23. The width or width of the groove formed by the upper lip 22 and the lower lip 23 corresponds to the thickness of the tongue 11, so that the tongue 11 can be inserted into the groove 21.

(26) The lower side of the upper lip 23 of the tongue with surface 29, like surface 19 of the upper side of the tongue, is flat and horizontally arranged so that the tongue and tongue can engage or slide into each other without resistance. Surface 19 of the top of the tongue and surface 29 of the bottom of the top lip 23 form contact surfaces that are substantially parallel to the plane defined by the floor panel.

(27) The thickness of the upper lip 22 and the lower lip 23 differ, and the upper lip 22 can be thicker than the lower lip 23. Due to a smaller thickness of the lower lip 23, it serves as an elastically bendable projection.

(28) A recess 24 with a contact surface 25 is provided in the lower lip 23 of the groove, recess 24 cooperating with contact surface 25 in a complementary manner to tongue 11 with contact surface 15. A saddle 27 is formed in recess 24. The formation of the saddle 27 in the transverse profile (FIG. 1B) and the saddle 47 longitudinal profile (FIG. 2B) is differently pronounced, which is due to the technical profile geometry and the associated pretensioning effect.

(29) The groove profiling of FIG. 1B has a joining surface 26 at the side edge running along the upper lip 22. The joining surface 26 is beveledlike the joining surface 16 of the tonguewhereby here, too, the bevel of the joining surface 26 runs at an angle of 1 with respect to the perpendicular to the upper side of the panel.

(30) A chamfer or bevel 26a is provided at the junction of the mating surface 26 to the underside of the upper lip 23 with the surface 29.

(31) A ramp surface 28 is provided at the free end of the lower lip 23 of the groove to facilitate interlocking of the short transverse sides. The corresponding ramp surface 48 in the longitudinal profile (FIG. 2B), on the other hand, is less strongly formed, and is rather provided as a rounding. This geometric difference is due to the different behavior of the transverse profile and the longitudinal profile when the profiles are angled in during installation. The ramp area 28 allows easier placement of the transverse profiles. It also ensures that the profiles can be laid with impact wood without damage.

(32) In the assembled state (see FIG. 1C), the projection 14 of the tongue 11 engages the recess 24 of the lower lip 23 of the groove so that the contact surface 15 of the projection 14 and the contact surface 25 of the recess 24 of the lower lip exert a clamping force or preload on each other.

(33) When the beveled joining surface 16 of the tongue profiling and the beveled joining surface 26 of the groove profiling are in contact in the joined state of two floor panels, a line pressure occurs along the beveled joining surfaces 16, 26 at the contact of the joining surfaces 16, 26. An angle of 2 is formed between the beveled joining surfaces 16, 26. The upper contact points of the joining surfaces 16, 26 are thus pressed together to form an almost continuous surface.

(34) Due to the geometric design of the tongue and groove profiles, dust chambers are formed between all sides of the interlocking floor panels. Particular reference should be made to the chamber shown in the transverse profile between the recess 24 of the lower lip 23 of the groove 20 and the projection 14 of the tongue 11 (FIG. 1C).

(35) In the longitudinal profile (see FIG. 2C), however, this hollow space or dust chamber between recess 44 and projection 34 is smaller. This is due to the selected tongue mechanism of the groove profiles in the transverse profile and longitudinal profile, whereby the deflection is greater in the transverse profile than in the longitudinal profile. In addition, the transverse profile also has a higher profile spacing compared to the longitudinal profile (i.e. lower lip 23 of the transverse profile is longer than lower lip 43 of the longitudinal profile. This allows the grooved cheek of the transverse profile to tongue out, which, in combination with the ramp surface 28 and the cavity, makes it easier to install in the transverse profile. The slightly varying profile mass and geometry of the transverse profile and longitudinal profile is due in particular to the different behavior of the transverse profile and longitudinal profile when the profiles are angled in during installation by different lever arms.

(36) In the coupled state of the floor panels shown in FIG. 1C, a gap can also be seen at the transition to the panel underside between the lower lip 23 and lower tongue edge, which occurs in particular in the case of the installation of HDF panels.

(37) The second embodiment of the tongue-and-groove profiling shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C is provided as a longitudinal profile in the longitudinal sides of the floor panel, as mentioned above.

(38) The tongue profile of FIG. 2A is essentially the same as the tongue profile of FIG. 1A, although the length of the lower tongue side 13 in the transverse profile differs from the length of the lower tongue side 33 in the longitudinal profile. In particular, the length of the lower tongue side 13 in the transverse profile is longer than in the longitudinal profile of FIG. 2A.

(39) In addition, the geometry of the projection 14 in the transverse profile differs from the geometry of the projection 34 in the longitudinal profile. The projection 14 in the transverse profile is weaker than the projection 34 in the longitudinal profile, i.e. the 14 in the transverse profile is smaller than the height of the projection 34 in the longitudinal profile. This geometric difference is also due to the different behavior of the transverse profile and the longitudinal profile when the profiles are angled in during installation by different lever arms.

(40) The groove profiling of FIG. 2B differs from the groove profiling of FIG. 1B in particular in the angle of inclination of the beveled joining surface. Thus, the joining surface 26 of FIG. 1B is beveled by 1, while the joining surface 46 in FIG. 2B has a bevel of 2. The differences in the chamfer of the joining surfaces of the groove profiling in the transverse profile and in the longitudinal profile are due to the length of the transverse sides and longitudinal sides.

(41) In the joined state (see FIG. 2C), an angle of 3 is formed between the beveled joining surfaces 36, 46. The upper contact points of the joining surfaces are thus also pressed together along the longitudinal edges, forming an almost continuous surface.

(42) Also, the length of the lower lip 23 of the transverse profile differs from the length of the lower lip 43 of the longitudinal profile, with the lower lip 23 of the transverse profile being longer than the lower lip 43 of the longitudinal profile.

(43) The third embodiment of the tongue-and-groove profiling shown in FIGS. 3A to 3B is provided in the transverse sides of a floor panel with a thickness of 12 mm as a transverse profile.

(44) The fourth embodiment of the tongue-groove profiling shown in FIGS. 4A to 4B is again provided in the long sides of a floor panel with a thickness of 12 mm as a longitudinal profile.

(45) The tongue-groove profiles of FIGS. 3A, 3B and 4A, 4B are substantially the same as the tongue-groove profiles of FIGS. 1A, 1B and 2A, 2B, so reference is made to the above.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

(46) 1 Floor panel 2 upper side of the floor panel 3 lower side of the floor panel 10, 30 first side edge of a panel with a thickness of 4.5 mm with tongue profiling 11, 31 tongue 12, 32 upper side of the tongue 13, 33 lower side of the tongue 14, 34 projection 15, 35 Contact surface of the projection 14, 34 16, 36 bevelled joining surface 16a, 36a Recess in bevelled joining surface 16, 36 17, 37 Chamfer 19, 39 Contact surface on upper side 12, 32 20, 40 second side edge with a thickness of 4.5 mm with groove profiling 21, 41 Groove 22, 42 upper lip 23, 43 lower lip 24, 44 Recess in the lower lip 23, 43 25, 45 Recess contact surface 24, 44 26, 46 beveled joining surface 26a, 46a chamfer 27, 47 Saddle in the recess 24, 44 28, 48 Ramp area 29, 49 Contact area at the bottom of the upper lip 22, 42 50, 70 first side edge of a panel with a thickness of 12 mm with tongue profiling 51, 71 tongue 52, 72 upper side of the tongue 53, 73 lower side of the tongue 54, 74 projection 55, 75 Contact surface of projection 54, 74 56, 76 bevelled joining surface 56a, 76a Recess in joining surface 56, 76 57, 77 Chamfer 59, 79 Contact surface on upper side 52, 72 60, 80 second side edge with a thickness of 12 mm with groove profiling 61, 81 Groove 62, 82 upper lip 63, 83 lower lip 64, 84 Recess in lower lip 63, 83 65, 85 Contact surface of recess 64, 84 66, 86 bevelled joining surface 66a, 86a chamfer 67, 87 Saddle in the recess 64, 84 68, 88 Ramp area 69, 89 Contact area on the underside of the upper lip 62, 82