US 2,004,068,954 · Filed 2003-11-14
The Click-Lock Flooring Patent That Made Installing Hardwood Easier
Imagine floor boards with lips and heels that snap together like puzzle pieces, locking horizontally and vertically without nails or glue. This patent describes the geometry that lets adjacent boards interlock, keeping them flat and aligned once you click them together.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a flooring system where boards have lower joining lips on two opposite edges and upper joining lips on the other two edges. Those lips contain vertical surfaces that interlock horizontally, plus heel-and-recess mechanisms that snap and lock vertically. What's protected is this specific interlocking geometry that prevents both horizontal sliding and vertical lifting between adjacent floor boards.
Why it matters
This patent protects a core innovation in click-lock or floating floor systems, which revolutionized DIY home installation by eliminating nails, screws, and adhesives. By allowing boards to interlock mechanically, manufacturers could create floors that homeowners could install without specialized tools or expertise, opening a massive market for quick-install engineered wood and laminate flooring.
Real-world use
Every time you walk across a luxury vinyl plank or laminate floor that snaps together without glue, you're experiencing this interlocking mechanism at work.
Original USPTO abstract
Flooring material including floor boards ( 1 ) with an essentially square, rectangular or rhomboidal shape. The floor boards ( 1 ) are provided with edges ( 2 ), a horizontal lower side ( 5 ) and a horizontal decorative upper surface ( 3 ). The floor boards ( 1 ) are provided with lower joining lips ( 10 ) at two adjacent edges ( 2 ) while the two remaining edges ( 2 ) are provided with upper joining lips ( 20 ). The lower joining lips ( 10 ) are provided essentially vertical lower lip surfaces ( 11 ) arranged parallel to the closest edge ( 2 ). The lower lip surfaces ( 11 ) are intended to interact with mainly vertical upper lip surfaces ( 21 ) arranged on the upper joining lips ( 20 ). Two joined adjacent floor boards ( 1 ) are hereby locked together in a horizontal direction. The joining lips ( 10 and 20 respectively) are furthermore provided with one or more heels ( 31 ) intended to snap join with recesses ( 32 ) adapted thereto which, by being provided with essentially horizontal locking surfaces, limits vertical movement between two joined adjacent floor boards ( 1 ).
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 2,004,068,954
- Filing date
- 2003-11-14
- Grant date
- Application — not yet granted
- Assignee
- Goran Martensson
- Inventor(s)
- MARTENSSON GORAN
- CPC class
- E04F15/02
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