US 6,345,481 · Granted 2002-02-12
The Interlocking Edge Patent That Made Click-Together Flooring Possible
Imagine floor planks that snap together like puzzle pieces without any glue, and you can take them apart and reassemble them over and over without damaging the edges. This patent protects the specific shape and design of those interlocking edges that let laminate flooring boards lock into place perfectly tight, with zero gaps.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers an article—typically a laminate flooring plank—with two different interlocking edge profiles that allow adjacent pieces to interlock without adhesive while creating a virtually seamless joint. What's protected here is the geometric design of those edges themselves: the specific shapes and mechanical fit that enable repeated assembly and disassembly without degradation. Anyone manufacturing flooring or similar surface-covering products using this exact interlocking-edge design would be infringing on the patent.
Why it matters
Before this patent, most laminate flooring required adhesive to stay in place, which made installation messier and replacement harder. This invention unlocked the modern click-lock flooring category that dominates DIY home improvement today. The ability to take floors apart and reassemble them without damage was a major selling point—homeowners could install, remove, and reinstall the same planks multiple times, which made the product far more appealing and forgiving of mistakes.
Real-world use
Every time you click a laminate plank into place during a home renovation, that satisfying snap is the mechanical result of these interlocking edge profiles locking together seamlessly.
Original USPTO abstract
An article that is suitable for use in surface coverings, such as laminate floorings, wherein the article has at least one interlocking edge of a first profile and at least one interlocking edge of a second profile. The interlocking edges provide the ability to interlock adjacent articles without the need for an adhesive, and yet form a substantially gapless seam between the articles. The articles may be joined and unjoined from each other a plurality of times without any substantial deterioration of the interlocking edge profiles.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 6,345,481
- Filing date
- 1999-04-12
- Grant date
- 2002-02-12
- Assignee
- Premark Rwp Holdings, Inc.
- Inventor(s)
- NELSON THOMAS JOHN
- CPC class
- E04F15/02
Want to file your own patent?
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