FLEXIBLE COMPOSITE LAP JOINT FOR TRAILER FLOORING

Abstract

A composite wood floor board assembled adjacent to another composite wood floor board, each the board comprising: a top layer of laminated hardwood comprising: a top side; a bottom side; a first lateral side; and a second lateral side opposite the first lateral side, wherein at least one of the first and second lateral sides is formed without shiplap lips; and a bottom layer comprising a planar fiber-reinforced polymer composite that is bonded to the bottom side of the top layer of the laminated hardwood and reinforces the top layer, wherein the bottom layer of fiber-reinforced polymer composite extends laterally outwardly by a distance up to two inches (2″) from the first lateral side of the top layer, and wherein a part of the bottom layer of the composite wood floor board is bonded to the top layer with a first adhesive and a part of the bottom layer is bonded with a second adhesive or sealant.

Claims

1. A method of joining a first and second composite floor boards in a vehicular trailer: wherein the first and second composite floor boards each have a top side and a bottom side, and wherein each of the first and second composite floor boards comprises: a layer of wood at the top side that has opposing lateral side edges, wherein each of the opposing lateral side edges is more than half the thickness of the wood layer and does not form a shiplap, and wherein the wood layers of the first composite floor board and the second composite floor board are not joined by a conventional shiplap joint; and a composite layer formed from a layer of non-wood fiber reinforced polymer composite at the bottom side, and wherein the composite layer is at least partly bonded to the wood layer with a first adhesive and reinforces the wood layer; a composite lip at one of the opposing lateral side edges of the wood layer of the first composite floor board, the composite lip formed by lateral extension of the composite layer of the first composite floor board; and a bottom side recess at one of the opposing lateral side edges of the second composite floor board, for mating with the composite lip of the first composite floor board, wherein the method comprises: applying a second adhesive or sealant or caulk to the composite lip of the first composite board or to the bottom side recess of the second composite floor board or to both of composite lip and recess, disposing the first composite floor board adjacent to the second composite floor board, and disposing the composite lip under the bottom side recess of the second composite floor board to form a seam.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a part of the composite layer of the first composite floor board is bonded to the wood layer of the first composite floor board with a first adhesive, and a part of the composite layer of the first composite board is bonded to the wood layer of the second composite floor board with a second adhesive or sealant.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the opposing lateral side edges of one or both of the first and second composite floor boards further comprises one or more crusher beads.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite layer of the second composite floor board is offset from an edge of the layer of wood to provide the bottom side recess for disposing the composite lip of the first composite floor board.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite layer of the second composite floor board is contoured around a recess at an edge of the wood layer to provide the bottom side recess for disposing the composite lip of the first composite floor board.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite layer of first composite floor board is partially non-bonded to the wood layer at the opposing lateral side edge near the lip of the first composite floor board.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the layer of wood comprises a hardwood, and the layer of composite comprises a polymer and reinforcing fibers.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a compressible seal or caulk or a sealant between the first and second composite floor boards.

9. A method for providing moisture barrier between two composite floor boards among a plurality of composite floor boards in a vehicular trailer: wherein the composite floor boards having a moisture barrier between them comprise a first composite floor board and a second composite floor board, each of the first and second composite floor boards comprising: a wood top layer having opposing lateral side edges, wherein each of the opposing lateral side edges is more than half the thickness of the wood layer and does not form a shiplap; and a non-wood fiber reinforced polymer composite bottom layer adhesively bonded with a first adhesive to an underside of the wood top layer that reinforces the wood layer; a composite lip at one of the opposing lateral side edges of the wood layer of the first composite floor board, the composite lip formed by lateral extension of the composite layer of the first composite floor board; and a bottom side recess at one of the opposing lateral side edges of the second composite floor board, for mating with the composite lip of the first composite floor board, wherein the method comprises: disposing the first and second composite floor boards along the length of a trailer; applying a second adhesive or sealant to the composite lip of the first composite board or to the bottom side recess of the second composite floor board or to both of composite lip and recess, disposing the first composite floor board adjacent to the second composite floor board, disposing the composite lip under the bottom side recess of the second composite floor board to form a seam, and fastening the floor boards to a supporting sub-structure of the trailer, the supporting sub-structure comprising spaced apart cross-members, the cross-members extending along the width of the trailer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein at least one of the opposing lateral side edges of one or both of the first and second composite floor boards further comprises one or more crusher beads.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the composite layer of the second composite floor board is offset from an edge of the layer of wood to provide the bottom side recess for disposing the composite lip of the first composite floor board.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the composite layer of the second composite floor board is contoured around a recess at an edge of the wood layer to provide the bottom side recess for disposing the composite lip of the first composite floor board.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the composite layer of first composite floor board is partially non-bonded to the wood layer at the opposing lateral side edge near the lip of the first composite floor board.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the layer of wood comprises a hardwood, and the layer of composite comprises a polymer and reinforcing fibers.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising applying a compressible seal or caulk or a sealant between the first and second composite floor boards.

16. A method of joining the adjacent edges of two composite floor boards in a floor system of a vehicle for transporting goods: wherein the composite floor boards comprise a first composite floor board and a second composite floor board, each of the first and second composite floor boards having a top side, a bottom side, two opposing lateral sides, and two opposing edges, wherein the top side comprises a layer of wood, and the bottom side comprises a layer of fiber-reinforced polymer composite that is bonded to the layer of wood with a first adhesive and reinforces the wood layer, wherein the fiber-reinforced polymer composite layer comprises a first portion of fibers oriented along a longitudinal axis and a second portion of fibers oriented along a transverse axis that strengthen the fiber-reinforced polymer composite layer along both axes, wherein each of the first and second composite floor boards has a first thickness at one lateral edge and a second thickness at the other lateral edge, and wherein the second thickness is about 75% or more of the first thickness; and a discontinuity formed between the lateral edge with the first thickness of the first composite floor board and the lateral edge with the second thickness of the second composite floor board, wherein the method comprises: applying a second adhesive or sealant to the lateral edge with the first thickness of the first composite floor board and/or the lateral edge with the second thickness of the second composite floor board, disposing the lateral edge with the first thickness of the first composite floor board adjacent to the lateral edge with the second thickness of the second composite floor board to form a composite lap joint, wherein the composite lap joint is formed by a unitary planar layer of the fiber-reinforced polymer composite bridging the discontinuity between the first and second composite floor boards.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the top layer of wood comprises a hardwood, and the bottom layer of fiber-reinforced polymer composite comprises fibers selected from the group consisting of glass fibers, carbon fibers, graphite fibers, aramid fibers, polyethylene fibers, and any combinations thereof.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the bottom layer is at least partly bonded to the top layer of the first or second composite floor board.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising a caulk or sealant or a sealing tape applied at the composite lap joint between the first and second composite floor boards.

20. The method of claim 1 for assembling a floor system of a vehicular trailer, container, truck body, rail wagon or rail decks.

21. The method of claim 9 for assembling a floor system of a vehicular trailer, container, truck body, rail wagon or rail decks.

22. The method of claim 16 for assembling a floor system of a vehicular trailer, container, truck body, rail wagon or rail decks.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the prior art assembly of composite floorboards with shiplap joint in a trailer.

[0028] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the prior art assembly of finger jointed solid wood or bamboo floorboards using omega channels between adjacent boards in a trailer.

[0029] FIG. 3 shows the unassembled edges of two adjacent composite floor boards to form a conventional shiplap joint in a trailer floor.

[0030] FIG. 4 shows the assembled edges of two adjacent composite floor boards to form a conventional shiplap joint in a trailer floor

[0031] FIG. 5 shows the conventional shiplap joint assembly of two adjacent composite floor boards with a cracked lip of a top shiplap.

[0032] FIG. 6 shows the unassembled edges of two composite boards to form a composite lap joint, wherein one edge has a composite lip and the other edge has an offset composite layer to form a recess at the bottom side according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 7 shows the composite lap joint assembly of FIG. 6 with two adjacent composite boards with crusher bead on lateral side edges of boards.

[0034] FIG. 8 shows the composite lap joint assembly of two adjacent composite boards, wherein one edge has a flat composite lip and the other edge has a bottom recess covered by a contoured composite underlayer according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 9 shows the composite lap joint assembly of two adjacent composite boards, wherein the composite lip is partly non-bonded to the bottom edge surface of one board according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 10 shows the composite lap joint assembly of two adjacent composite boards, wherein the composite lip is bonded to the bottom edge surface of one board with an adhesive or sealant material capable of elastic stretching to increase flexibility of the lap according to still yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 11 shows the composite lap joint assembly of two adjacent composite boards, wherein the composite lip is coated with a caulk or seal tape or adhesive before assembly with the edge of an adjacent board according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0038] Various embodiments of the this disclosure are shown in FIGS. 6-11, attached hereto, wherein FIGS. 6 and 7 show a composite lip 20 at one edge of a board 22, which can be mated with bottom side edge 21 of an adjacent board 23. Composite lip 20 is fabricated with a planar layer of composite material that is also the underlayer 16 of composite board 22. Top layers 24 and 25 of the two adjacent boards have thicker edges 26 compared to the conventional shiplaps, which have half the thickness of the board. This makes the edges of boards stronger and resistant to fatigue loading. The composite layer 16 is a fiber reinforced polymer, wherein the polymer is a thermoset or a thermoplastic. Examples of thermoset polymers can be epoxy, phenolic, polyester, vinyl ester, polyurethane, etc. The fiber reinforcement can be one or more types of fibers, such as glass, carbon, graphite, aramid, polyethylene, etc. Additionally, the composite layer 16 may have high strength steel wires as reinforcement. Preferably, the composite layer is configured to provide strength and stiffness along the both major axes of the layer. In one embodiment, a portion of the fibers, up to 50% of the total fibers by weight are oriented approximately along the transverse axis or width of the board and the remaining fibers are oriented approximately along the longitudinal axis or length of the board. In another embodiment, the composite reinforcement is designed to obtain a transverse tensile strength of the composite layer that is less than its longitudinal tensile strength. The composite layer 16 may be bonded to the top layer 24 using any suitable adhesive such as epoxy, polyurethane, hotmelt, acrylic, cyanoacrylate, etc., which may be a thermoset or a thermoplastic polymer.

[0039] According to the present disclosure, composite underlayer 16 of composite board 22 is extended by up to 2 inches at an edge of the floor board. The extension of the composite layer is mated with the bottom side of an adjacent second floor board 23 to form a composite lap joint 27. The thickness of the wood or lignocellulosic top layer 24 and 25 at the edges of boards at a composite lap joint is higher than half the thickness of the board. The top layers 24 and 25 may be nearly equal to the thickness of boards, when the composite layer 16 is relatively very thin. The composite lap joint is therefore stronger than a conventional shiplap joint and it also provides better sealing against water intrusion through the joint from the underside of the floor. This composite lap joint 27 allows for the relative deflection of one board with respect to the adjacent board without significant load transfer between the boards, which in turn prevents cracking of the wood layer that can happen in conventional shiplap joint. In order to fabricate a shiplap, an additional 7/16 inch wide piece of material is required in the top layer. In the composite lap joint, the additional material of the top layer is saved. The composite layer is offset from one edge to the other edge of board with no gain or loss of material compared to conventional board with shiplap. This provides a net saving of material in the top layer to make a board with composite lap compared to conventional shiplap.

[0040] In one embodiment, the extension of the composite lip 20 is approximately ¼ to ¾ inch. In a more preferred embodiment, the extension of the composite lip 20 is ⅜ inch to ½ inch, both dimensions inclusive. In another embodiment, a crusher bead 7 is included at a lateral vertical edge 26 of the top wood layer of at least one of the two adjacent boards.

[0041] In another embodiment as shown in FIG. 8, composite underlayer 16 of first board 30 having a crusher bead 7 is extended to form a lip 20 as before. Composite underlayer 28 of the second adjacent board 31 is contoured around a shallow bottom cut profile or rout 29 in the wood layer at the edge of second board 31, thereby providing a recess below the edge of second board 31 for insertion of composite lip 20 of the first board 30.

[0042] In FIG. 9, composite underlayer 16 adjacent to composite lip 20 of a board is partly non-bonded to the bottom edge surface 32 of the wood layer of first board 30. This allows for increased flexibility of the composite lip 20 when pushed down by the deflection under load of the adjacent board 31.

[0043] In FIG. 10, an adhesive caulk or sealant or an elastomer 33 with high flexibility and elongation or stretch to failure of 100% or more is used at the bottom edge surface 32 of the first board 30 to allow for increased flexibility of composite lip 20 and improved sealing of the joint. Typical caulking and sealant suitable for this application are based on butyl rubber and polyurethane. Moisture curing polyurethane sealant is commercially available under the trade name Sikaflex from Sika Corporation. The sealant may be applied to the joint at the time of installation of boards in a trailer.

[0044] Another embodiment also shown in FIG. 10 depicts lateral side edge 34 of the top layer on second adjacent board 31 and side 34 is angled in relation to the lateral side edge 35 of first board 30 and the crusher bead has been eliminated. The V-shaped grove 36 thus formed at the lap joint 27 allows for the expansion of wood top layer of boards 30 and 31 upon absorption of moisture.

[0045] In FIG. 11, a compressible material in the form of a foam tape or a sealant 37 is applied on the composite lip 20 for moisture sealing.

[0046] A one inch thick composite floor was fabricated for testing the performance of the composite lap joint of the present disclosure as shown in FIG. 7. The floor was composed of eight boards and there were seven composite lap joints between adjacent boards. A butyl rubber caulk was applied on the composite lip during installation of boards in a van trailer. The floor was supported by 4 inch high cross-members, made of steel with minimum yield strength of 80 Ksi, which is a North American industry standard for common van trailers. The cross-members were spaced at 12 inches in the bay section of the trailer. The composite lip 20 was 0.5 inch wide and 0.05 inch thick. The composite was made of continuous glass fiber rovings and epoxy resin. About 90% by weight of the glass fiber was approximately oriented in the longitudinal direction of each board and the remaining fibers were laid generally across the width of each board. The top layer of the boards was laminated oak. A polyurethane hotmelt adhesive supplied by Forbo Adhesives LLC was used for bonding the composite layer to the boards.

[0047] The one inch composite floor is desirable for light weight trailers, especially those that are designed for hauling higher density beverage and canned products. It saves over 300 pounds of weight in a typical 53 foot dry van trailer compared to the industry standard 1.31 inch thick laminated oak floor. These trailers require a TTMA floor load rating of 16,000 pounds to support the lift truck that moves pallets of beverage. The conventional one inch thick composite floor with shiplap joint between boards is not suitable for this type of application due to the stress concentration at the corners of the 0.5 inch thick shiplaps and due to the high number of load cycles encountered in typical beverage hauling applications.

[0048] The cyclical load test of the floor system was conducted according to TTMA RP 37-02. A forklift truck with a front axle load of 16,000 pounds was cycled 3000 times along the center axis of the one inch composite floor having the composite lap joint in a van trailer. An additional 3000 load cycles were applied at the front axle load of 17,500 pounds on the same floor. After 6000 load cycles on the floor boards, there was no observable damage to the floor boards on both the top and bottom sides and at the composite lap joint. After the final completion of the testing, the loaded floor boards were removed and closely observed for signs of cracks. The composite lips of the boards were intact without any fracture of the transverse glass fibers of the composite layer. Surprisingly, the epoxy resin of the composite was crazed at the corner of the wood layer and the composite lip. It appeared that the crazing of epoxy may have increased the flexibility of the composite lip, which in turn helped to avoid gross fracture of the lip and debonding of the composite lip from the wood layer. The caulk effectively bonded adjacent boards at the lap joints and maintained a good seal. After the completion of the load test, a smoke bomb was placed inside the trailer and the doors were shut to test for leaks. If smoke leaks through the floor, it is generally considered to be a sign of potential pathways for water and moisture to migrate to the top side of the floor from the road side of the trailer. Unexpectedly, the composite lap joints were found to be free of leaks. This test proved the improved structural and sealing performance of the composite lap joint of the present disclosure. This test showed that the floor system was capable of handling loads higher than 16,000 lbs and even higher than 17,500 pounds for thousands of load cycles without compromising the integrity of the composite lap joint.

[0049] While the composite lap joint has been proven to be particularly useful for 1 inch thick floors, it is a better joint for all suitable thicknesses of boards ranging from 0.75 to 1.5 inch. The elimination of conventional shiplaps saves about 7/16 inch of wood material of the top layer, which reduces the cost of making a composite floor board at a given width. The increased strength of the joint allows for the elimination of omega channels that are used in some wood floors, thus saving additional weight and cost, while simplifying the floor design. As such, the composite lap joint is useful in floor systems in a variety of vehicles, including over the road trailer, truck body, rail decks and wagons. The top layer of the boards can be laminated wood, bamboo, solid wood or other lignocellulosic substrates.

[0050] While I have shown and described several embodiments in accordance with my disclosure, it is to be clearly understood that the same may be susceptible to numerous changes apparent to one skilled in the art. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the details shown and described but intend to show all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the appended claims.