US 2,009,133,353 · Filed 2008-11-07
The Snap-Lock Floor Patent That Made Installing Planks Toolless
Imagine floor planks that lock together like puzzle pieces just by snapping them down vertically, no hammers or nails needed. This patent covers a mechanical locking system on the edges that lets anyone install hardwood or laminate flooring in minutes by hand.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a floor panel design with mechanical locking mechanisms on both the long and short edges that enable vertical snap-folding installation. Specifically, it protects the system where the short-edge locking includes a tongue molded as a single piece with the panel itself, allowing panels to interlock without separate fasteners or tools.
Why it matters
Before this kind of innovation, laying floor panels required specialized skills, tools, and significant labor. By making the locking mechanism integral to the panel itself and enabling snap-together assembly, this patent helped democratize flooring installation for DIY homeowners and reduced installation costs and time for professionals. Valinge Innovation has built significant business around this category of click-locking and fold-down floor systems.
Real-world use
When you install luxury vinyl plank or laminate flooring in a home today and the pieces click together without screws or adhesive, you're experiencing the engineering this patent protects.
Original USPTO abstract
Floor panels are shown, which are provided with a mechanical locking system on long and short edges allowing installation with vertical snap folding that could be accomplished automatically without tools and where the short edge locking system has a tongue made in one piece with the panel.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 2,009,133,353
- Filing date
- 2008-11-07
- Grant date
- Application — not yet granted
- Assignee
- Valinge Innovation Ab
- Inventor(s)
- PERVAN DARKO, STAHL MARCUS NILSSON
- CPC class
- E04F15/02038
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