US 6,182,410 · Granted 2001-02-06
The Click-Lock Patent That Revolutionized DIY Flooring
Imagine flooring boards that snap together like puzzle pieces instead of needing nails or glue. This patent describes an ingenious locking groove system that lets adjacent floor panels lock both vertically and horizontally, making installation faster and cleaner for anyone laying down new floors.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a mechanical edge-locking system for floor panels that uses a locking groove and flexible resilient locking strip to create two simultaneous connections: one that locks adjacent panels vertically (keeping them from separating) and another that locks them horizontally (keeping them from sliding sideways). The specific geometry of how the groove, strip, and panels interlock is what's protected—competitors can't copy this exact mechanical arrangement without infringing.
Why it matters
This patent represents a foundational innovation in click-lock or tongue-and-groove flooring technology, which transformed the flooring industry by making installation faster, more precise, and accessible to homeowners rather than just professionals. By mechanically locking panels without adhesives or fasteners, it reduced installation time and cost while improving product reliability. Välinge Aluminium AB's development of this system became central to modern laminate and engineered wood flooring design.
Real-world use
Every time someone installs a laminate or engineered wood floor by clicking boards together along the edges without using nails, they're using the core mechanical principle this patent locked down.
Original USPTO abstract
An edge lock is provided for use in a flooring system having a plurality of floor panels. The edge lock mechanically and releasably locks together adjacent edges of pairs of adjacent floor panels during assembly of the flooring system, and when said adjacent floor panels are laying flat on a subfloor with upper corner portions of said adjacent edges being mutually spaced apart, the edge lock includes a lock for forming a first mechanical connection for locking the adjacent edges to each other in a vertical direction, and for forming a second mechanical connection for locking the adjacent edges to each other in a horizontal direction at right angles to the edges. The lock includes a locking groove extending parallel to and spaced from a first one of the adjacent edges of one of the adjacent floor panels and being open at a rear side of the one adjacent floor panel, and a flexible and resilient locking strip integrated with another of the adjacent floor panels.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,182,410
- Filing date
- 1999-07-19
- Grant date
- 2001-02-06
- Assignee
- Välinge Aluminium AB
- Inventor(s)
- PERVAN TONY
- CPC class
- E04F15/02
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