US 6,332,733 · Granted 2001-12-25
The Click-Lock Floor Panel Joint That Changed Flooring Installation
Imagine floor panels that snap together like puzzle pieces without any twisting or complex maneuvering. This patent describes a two-part locking system: a traditional groove-and-tongue joint that lets boards fit snugly side-by-side, plus a separate twist-lock mechanism that holds them together at the edges so they stay perfectly flat.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The patent covers a flooring joint design where a groove-and-tongue connection runs along one direction of the panel while a separate twistlock mechanism—shaped to engage with a matching element on an adjacent panel—runs along the perpendicular edges. What's protected is the specific combination of keeping these two locking systems separate and independent, and using the twistlock on both the long edges and short edges of rectangular floor panels to allow installation in a flat, non-twisting motion.
Why it matters
This design solves a practical installation headache. Traditional interlocking floor panels often required builders to angle and twist boards into place, making installation slower and more error-prone. By separating the side-locking from the end-locking, and using a flat twistlock system, installers could lay panels down and click them together horizontally—faster, easier, less skilled labor required. This became commercially valuable in the engineered and laminate flooring market where ease of installation is a major selling point.
Real-world use
When you walk across a modern click-lock laminate or engineered wood floor in a home, the boards beneath your feet are likely held together using a mechanism descended from this patent design.
Original USPTO abstract
A joint for two flat structural members, in particular floor panels, wherein a groove and tongue joint joining the two flat structural members is provided functionally separate from a twistlock locking the two flat structural members. The twistlock is formed on one of the structural members, the is spaced apart from the groove and tongue joint, and engages with a correspondingly formed engaging element of the other structural member. The locking is preferably formed both at the longitudinal edges and at the front edges of a rectangular structural member, such as a floor panel. The locking allows for a joint of the floor panels to occur in flat position, i.e. without twisting.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,332,733
- Filing date
- 2000-04-25
- Grant date
- 2001-12-25
- Assignee
- Hamberger Industriewerke Gmbh
- Inventor(s)
- HAMBERGER PETER, HIPPER AUGUST
- CPC class
- E04F21/22
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