Hardwood flooring board

Abstract

The present invention is a hardwood flooring board including a middle layer formed from a non-hardwood flooring material and a hardwood material upper layer which is secured to an upper surface of the middle layer. The middle layer forms between 45% and 75% of the overall material of the board and enables the board to be manufactured to be more dimensionally stable, i.e., wider and longer, than conventional hardwood flooring boards. Also the use of the non-hardwood material in the middle layer greatly increases the dimensional stability and long term performance of the flooring boards, while providing a genuine hardwood appearance to the floor. The board also includes a lower layer that can be formed from either a hardwood material or a non-hardwood material to function as a base for the board.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 863,696 filed on Jun. 8, 2004, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 563,638, for an Improved Hardwood Flooring Board filed on Apr. 20, 2004.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] In a large number of commercial and residential buildings, hardwood flooring surfaces are utilized to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the interior of the building. In most instances, the flooring surface is formed from a number of flooring boards or planks engaged with one another to form the flooring surface. These boards are usually formed entirely of the desired hardwood, with each board being formed into the desired shape to facilitate the use of the boards to form the flooring surface. [0003] However, while these hardwood flooring surfaces provide the desired appearance to the interior of the building, the natural characteristics of t...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] According to a primary aspect of the present invention, an improved hardwood flooring is constructed with upper and lower layers formed of a conventional flooring material and a central or middle layer formed of an alternative non-hardwood flooring material. The board includes a hardwood layer forming the upper layer of the board to give the board the appearance of a conventional hardwood flooring surface when the boards are assembled to form the flooring surface. This enables the boards to be sanded when damaged similarly to a hardwood only board in order to maintain the hardwood appearance of the board.

[0007] However, the use of the alternative flooring material as the middle layer or core of the board greatly increases the dimensional stability of the board. In addition, the raw material cost for the non-hardwood material forming the middle layer costs less than that of the hardwood forming the upper layer. Further, the types of non-hardwood materials that can be used to form the middle layer can be chosen to enhance various properties of the board, such as the dimensional stability, longer average board length and a specially milled connection between each board that significantly minimizes any future visible contraction of each board.

Problems solved by technology

However, while these hardwood flooring surfaces provide the desired appearance to the interior of the building, the natural characteristics of traditional solid wood flooring often create challenges during installation and can develop later effecting the long term performance of the floor.

While these boards are faster to install and can be less expensive, the quality of the hardwood appearance is often unsatisfactory, and long term performance is poor, as normal wear and tear can often damage the hardwood-appearing surface of the boards, exposing the non-hardwood material forming the board.

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