US 5,179,812 · Granted 1993-01-19
The Puzzle-Piece Flooring Patent That Locks Without Tools
Imagine flooring panels that snap together like puzzle pieces and literally cannot come apart unless you tilt one side up. This patent describes a clever aluminum groove system that lets wood floor panels click securely into their neighbors, creating an interlocking floor that stays put without nails, screws, or adhesive.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a flooring panel system where an L-shaped surround with a base sits below a wood panel, and aluminum battens with grooves run parallel underneath. The protection specifically includes the method of joining two panels by sliding the surround base of one panel into the groove of the other panel's battens, creating a connection that cannot be separated without tilting one panel relative to the other.
Why it matters
This patent addresses a real problem in flooring installation: how to create a secure, permanent-feeling floor connection without traditional fasteners like nails or screws. The groove-and-surround locking mechanism represents an early approach to what became known as floating floor and click-lock flooring technology, which eventually transformed the residential flooring industry by making installation faster and damage-free.
Real-world use
If you've ever installed laminate or engineered wood flooring that clicks together smoothly and stays firmly in place without visible fasteners, you're benefiting from locking mechanisms descended from this patented design.
Original USPTO abstract
A flooring product (10) comprises a wood panel having an L-shaped surround (18) the base of which is located below the wood panel. A plurality of parallel aluminium battens (20) are connected to the base of the panel. These battens comprise a groove (30). In use two flooring products (10,50) having similar joint arrangements are secured together by locating the base of the surround (18) of each product in the groove (30) in the elongate members of the other product. The connection can not be disengaged unless one of the flooring products (10,50) is tilted relative to the other.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,179,812
- Filing date
- 1991-05-13
- Grant date
- 1993-01-19
- Assignee
- Flourlock (Uk) Limited
- Inventor(s)
- HILL; GUY C.
- CPC class
- E04F15/04
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