CONNECTION SYSTEM FOR PORTABLE FLOORING

Abstract

At each straight edge of a plywood section which is to be coupled to an adjacent plywood section, one half of a coupling structure is provided and the other half of the coupling structure is provided to the other plywood section which is to be coupled thereto. A system is provided which only requires a single set screw to hold elongated coupling halves together while absolutely preventing warpage or displacement of plywood sections with respect to one another. Thus, a ramp structure is incorporated into a recess which results in the vertical dimension of a tongue substantially matching the vertical dimension of the recess when the coupling halves are coupled together. The ramp structure best facilitates sliding the coupling halves into connection and a single set screw can be advanced to hold the coupling halves together with assurance that no warpage or misaligning will take place.

Claims

1. A coupling system for portable flooring comprising: a) a coupling half comprising an elongated body having a top surface, a bottom surface, a first side, and a second side; b) said first side including a first recess configured to receive an edge of a flooring section, said second side including a second recess with an opening at said second side; c) said second recess having a substantially flat bottom wall and a top wall having a ramp surface reducing a top to bottom dimension of said second recess in a direction from said second recess opening toward said first side.

2. The coupling system of claim 1, wherein said coupling half comprises a first coupling half, and further comprising a second coupling half comprising an elongated body having a top surface, a bottom surface, a first side, and a second side, said first side of said second coupling half including a first recess configured to receive an edge of a further flooring section, said second side of said second coupling half including a tongue extending in a direction away from said first side, said tongue configured to be received within said second recess of said first coupling half to couple together said first and second coupling halves.

3. The coupling system of claim 2, further comprising a threaded hole extending downwardly from said top surface of said first coupling half and a set screw received within said threaded hole and having a distal end engaging said tongue proximal of an upwardly angled distal bent end of said tongue to lock said first and second coupling halves together.

4. The coupling system of claim 3, wherein said second recess of said first coupling half extends toward said first side of said first coupling half to an end wall where a vertical dimension thereof is substantially the same as a vertical dimension of said tongue at said bent end, whereby when said first and second coupling halves are coupled together with said tongue received in said second recess of said first coupling half and an end of said tongue adjacent said end wall, said top surfaces of said coupling halves lying in a substantially common plane.

5. The coupling system of claim 4, wherein said tongue includes a straight portion connected to said upwardly angled distal bent end terminating at a tip.

6. The coupling system of claim 2, wherein said first recesses of said coupling halves have serrated upper and lower surfaces and said bottom surfaces of said coupling halves terminate at transitional ramp surfaces.

7. The coupling system of claim 6, wherein said serrated surfaces have serrations with pointed ends angled in a direction away from openings of said recesses, whereby edges of flooring sections within said recesses are retained therein.

8. The coupling system of claim 3, wherein solely a single set screw sufficiently retains said coupling halves together.

9. The coupling system of claim 2, wherein said coupling halves are made of metal.

10. The coupling system of claim 2, wherein said coupling halves are made of plastic.

11. The coupling system of claim 2, wherein said edges of said flooring sections are substantially straight.

12. The coupling system of claim 2, wherein said flooring sections are made from a material chosen from the group consisting of plywood and medium density overlay (MDO).

13. The coupling system of claim 1, wherein said top surface of said coupling half includes an elongated V cross section recess facilitating providing a location to provide a threaded hole to receive a set screw.

14. A coupling system for portable flooring comprising: a) a first coupling half comprising an elongated body having a top surface, a bottom surface, a first side, and a second side; b) said first side including a first serrated recess configured to receive an edge of a flooring section, said second side including a second recess with an opening at said second side; c) said second recess having a substantially flat bottom wall and a top wall having a ramp surface reducing a top to bottom dimension of said second recess in a direction from said second recess opening toward said first side; d) a second coupling half comprising an elongated body having a top surface, a bottom surface, a first side, and a second side, said first side of said second coupling half including a first serrated recess configured to receive an edge of a further flooring section, said second side of said second coupling half including a tongue extending in a direction away from said first side, said tongue having an upwardly angled bent distal end configured to be received within said second recess of said first coupling half to couple together said first and second coupling halves while maintaining said top surfaces of said coupling halves in a substantially common plane.

15. The coupling system of claim 14, further comprising a threaded hole extending downwardly from said top surface of said first coupling half and a set screw received within said threaded hole and having a distal end engaging said tongue proximal of said upwardly angled distal bent end of said tongue to lock said first and second coupling halves together.

16. The coupling system of claim 15, wherein said second recess of said first coupling half extends toward said first side of said first coupling half to an end wall where a vertical dimension thereof is substantially the same as a vertical dimension of said tongue at said bent end, whereby when said first and second coupling halves are coupled together with said tongue received in said second recess of said first coupling half and an end of said tongue adjacent said end wall, said top surfaces of said coupling halves lying in said substantially common plane.

17. The coupling system of claim 16, wherein said tongue includes a straight portion connected to said upwardly angled distal bent end terminating at a tip.

18. The coupling system of claim 15, wherein solely a single set screw sufficiently retains said coupling halves together.

19. The coupling system of claim 14, wherein said flooring sections are made from a material chosen from the group consisting of plywood and medium density overlay (MDO).

20. A coupling system for portable flooring comprising: a) a coupling half comprising an elongated body having a top surface, a bottom surface, a first side, and a second side; b) said first side including a first recess configured to receive an edge of a flooring section, said second side including a second recess with an opening at said second side; c) said second recess having an opening at said second side and a substantially flat bottom wall and a substantially flat top wall parallel to said substantially flat bottom wall, said top and bottom walls terminating at an end wall; and d) an elongated shim having a flat top surface and a bottom surface with a downward slope leading to a straight distal portion; e) said shim attached to said substantially flat top wall with said downward slope commencing adjacent said opening, thereby narrowing said second recess adjacent said end wall.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] FIG. 1 shows a side view of a coupling structure held by applicant as a trade secret.

[0020] FIG. 2 shows a further side view of the coupling structure of FIG. 1.

[0021] FIG. 3 shows a top view of two plywood sections adjacent one another but not yet coupled together.

[0022] FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

[0023] FIG. 5 shows a side view of the coupling halves of the present invention coupled together in a location where a set screw is not installed.

[0024] FIG. 6 shows a view similar to that of FIG. 5 but showing the set screw locking the coupling halves together.

[0025] FIG. 7 shows a top view similar to that of FIG. 3 but with the plywood sections coupled together.

[0026] FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view along the line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

[0027] FIG. 9 shows an enlarged side view of the female half of the coupling halves.

[0028] FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of the coupling half of FIG. 9 with a plywood panel structure substrate installed in its recess and installed threaded insert for a set screw.

[0029] FIG. 11 shows a side view of a further embodiment in which a female coupling half is modified through the addition of a shim to render it equivalent to the main embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] FIG. 12 shows a side view similar to that of FIG. 11 in which the male half is shown with its tongue inserted in the recess which has been modified through addition of the shim.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0031] Reference is first made to FIGS. 3-6 in which plywood sections 40 and 50 are shown. As seen in FIG. 3, the edge 41 of the plywood section 40 has installed therein the male half 43 of a coupling structure while the edge 51 of the plywood section 50 has the female half 53 of the coupling structure mounted thereon. The halves 43 and 53 extend substantially the entire length of the edges 41 and 51, respectively, by the floor sections 40 and 50.

[0032] As seen in FIG. 4, the plywood section 40 has an undercut portion 42 which enables the edge 44 thereof to be inserted within the recess 70 of the coupling half 43 while the plywood panel structure substrate 50 is also undercut at 54 to allow insertion into the recess 60 of the coupling half 53. If desired, the plywood sections 40 and 50 may be thick or thick. Other thicknesses can be employed.

[0033] As clearly seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the recesses 60 and 70 have serrated edges 62, 64 for the recess 60, and 72 and 74 for the recess 70. The teeth in the serrations are pointed inward toward the back wall of each recess so that when the edge of a floor section is inserted therein, they will not back out. A suitable adhesive such as glue, epoxy or others is employed to permanently maintain the interconnection which is shown in FIG. 4. The serrations provide an enhanced mechanical interconnection to the plywood section.

[0034] With reference to FIG. 7, the floor sections 40 and 50 are seen coupled together and FIG. 8 shows a set screw 48 advanced through a threaded opening 49 in the coupling half 53 and which engages the tongue 46 of the coupling half 43 to lock the coupling halves 43 and 53 together in the orientation shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. The position of the set screw 48 is seen in FIG. 7 and is centrally located along the length of the coupling halves 43 and 53. As seen in FIG. 8, the coupling half 43 has a lower portion 1 with a ramp surface 2. Similarly, the coupling half 53 has a lower portion 3 with a ramp surface 4. These ramp surfaces or slopes create a smooth transition between the plywood sections 40, 50 and the coupling halves 43, 53, respectively, which precludes the coupling halves from catching on the frames of other plywood sections during handling.

[0035] An important aspect of the present invention is the ramp surface 66 within the recess 68 of the female coupling half 53. See FIGS. 4, 5 and 9, in particular. This ramp surface 66 permits the tongue 46 to enter the recess 68 in an easy fashion and as it advances toward the rear wall of the recess 68, the tip 47 of the tongue 46 advances down the ramp 66 to the closed end 67 of the recess 68 (FIG. 9). This position is shown in FIG. 5. In that position, the set screw 48 is advanced to the position shown in FIG. 6 as well as FIG. 8 in which its distal end 52 presses against a top surface of the tongue 46 to lock it in place. The tip 47 is angled upward to preclude the tip from backing out past the set screw 48, as understood from FIG. 6. This upward angling of the tip 47 also reduces the number of turns of the set screw 48 necessary to engage the tongue, thereby speeding installation and removal.

[0036] FIGS. 5, 6 and 8 also show a laminate 81 on top of the coupling half 43 and a laminate 83 on top of the coupling half 53. These laminates 81 and 83 create a smooth floor surface and are adhered to the top surfaces of the coupling halves 43, 53, respectively. If necessary, the laminates 81, 83 are also adhered to the plywood sections 40, 50. Looking back at FIG. 2, the laminates 31 and 33 are shown with the laminate 33 corresponding to the laminate 81. However, due to the vertical dimension of the recess 13, the tongue 23 is able to be displaced upwardly in areas along the length of the coupling halves where there is no set screw 25. As explained earlier, such displacements can occur as a result of warping and the present invention is intended to solve this problem. Maintenance of the laminates 81 and 83 in a common plane reduces visibility of seams between panels.

[0037] As seen in FIG. 5, a V-shaped recess 85 is formed in the top wall of the coupling half 53. This V-shaped recess extends the length of the coupling half and is shown in FIG. 3. This V-shaped recess 85 helps to facilitate the creation of a threaded hole 86 (FIG. 6) at a single desired location to facilitate insertion of the set screw 48.

[0038] In accordance with the teachings of the present invention due to the interaction of the tongue 46 and recess 68, only a single set screw 48 is required to hold the coupling halves 43 and 53 together with their plywood sections attached and to preclude displacements of laminates such as the laminates 31 and 33 as shown in FIG. 2. Use of a single set screw 48 is more aesthetically pleasing than use of multiple set screws and also speeds the installation and removal process.

[0039] With reference to FIG. 7, additional locations 91 and 93 for set screws are schematically depicted. Such locations are necessary where the coupling halves such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are employed. They are absolutely not necessary in accordance with the teachings of the inventive design and only the set screw 48 is required.

[0040] FIG. 9 shows the enlarged coupling half 53 with its recess 60, serrated edges 62 and 64, recess 68, ramp 66, and recess end 67. Also shown in FIG. 9 is a cross-section reduction area 95 which reduces the weight of the coupling half 53. The V-shaped vortex recess 85 is also shown as is another cross-section reduction 96.

[0041] FIG. 10 shows the coupling half 53 with the plywood sheet 50 inserted therein as well as the cross-section of the V-shaped groove 85 and installed threaded insert 102, the undercut section 95, the recess 68, and the ramp 66. The inventive configuration provides greater depth available for installation of a threaded insert.

[0042] With reference now to FIGS. 11 and 12, it is seen that the coupling half 10 also shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes the recess 13 which may be modified by a shim 101 which is inserted as shown in FIG. 11 and attached by any suitable means such as, for example, a strong adhesive. As seen in FIG. 12, the coupling half 20 has a tongue 23 which when inserted into the recess 13 rides down the ramp surface 103 of the shim in a manner analogous to the manner by which the tongue 46 rides down the recess 68 as shown, for example, in FIG. 5. In this way, the shim 101 may be used to modify the coupling half 10 so that it operates in the manner contemplated by the present invention.

[0043] As explained earlier, the plywood sections may be made of any suitable material including plywood or MDO. The choice of which material to employ for the plywood sections is determined by cost issues, as well as the environments of contemplated use of a portable flooring system which can widely vary from internal and external uses as well as variations in temperature and humidity. The coupling halves can be made of a suitable strong metal such as aluminum.

[0044] As such, the present invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments thereof which fulfill each and every one of the objects of the invention as set forth hereinabove, and provide a new and useful improved connection system for portable flooring of great novelty and utility.

[0045] Of course, various changes, modifications, and alterations in the teachings of the present invention may be contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the intended spirit and scope thereof.

[0046] As such, it is intended that the present invention only be limited by the terms of the appended claims.