Hardwood Flooring

Inactive Publication Date: 2009-03-26
GLOBAL WOODFLOORING INC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0003]Briefly, the present invention is directed to a wood flooring having a hardwood upper surface and comprised of a plurality of elongated multi-layer flooring boards. Each of the boards can define tongue and groove lateral edges for joining adjacent boards together in the formation of the flooring, and includes an upper hardwood layer and a plurality of softwood layers disposed therebelow. The softwood layers are adhesively bonded together and to the hardwood layer. The hardwood layer is at least about 7 mm. in thickness and the softwood layers collectively define a thickness of about 15 mm. So configured, the flooring boards of the present invention provide a hardwood flooring that can be adhesively bonded in a secure disposition to a concrete surface without warping over time and without the need for a separate subfloor and which has a sufficiently thick upper layer of hardwood so as to allow for repeated refinishing of the flooring. The flooring boards of the present invention also allow for the securement of the flooring to a flooring substrate with nails in the same manner as a conventional solid hardwood floor. A cutout area may be provided along one of the edges of the flooring boards in the softwood layers adjacent to the underside of the tongue projecting laterally therefrom to allow for the expansion and contraction of the bottom softwood layers which will tend to undergo move movement than the upper softwood layers due to adhesion attachment of the bottom softwood layers to the concrete.

Problems solved by technology

However, it cannot be glued directly to concrete.
Solid hardwood flooring expands and contracts under variations in temperature and the adhesive securing the wood to the concrete does not move with the wood, causing the wood to pop off or separate from the concrete.
While the above-described engineered flooring provided a flooring having the appearance of a solid hardwood floor that could be adhesively secured to a concrete surface without warping, it had a significant limitation.
If a thicker upper layer of hardwood is used in an effort to increase the longevity of the product, the resultant planks have been found to warp.
Thus, while having the same appearance as solid hardwood flooring, engineered flooring has a much shorter life as its ability to be refinished is substantially diminished due to the relatively thin hardwood veneer.

Method used

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Examples

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Embodiment Construction

[0008]Referring now in detail to the drawings, the flooring boards 10 of the present invention are similar in overall shape to a conventional hardwood flooring board 110 illustrated in FIG. 2. As with conventional hardwood flooring boards, boards 10 can be provided in any desired length and width, with lengths being random and widths of 90-125 mm. being typical. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a tongue 12 projects laterally from one edge 14 of board 10 and an elongated groove 16 is provided in the opposing edge 18 for receiving the tongue of an adjacent board as in conventional tongue and groove flooring. As seen in FIG. 4, the flooring board 10 further comprises an upper hardwood layer 20 disposed atop and adhesively bonded to a stack 22 of adhesively bonded softwood layers 24. The individual layers 24 of a softwood are typically formed of plywood and will be hereinafter referred to as plywood, although layers 24 could be formed of a wide variety of softwood materials...

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Abstract

An elongated flooring board for use in forming a warp-resistant hardwood surface that can be repeatedly refinished, adhesively bonded to concrete or nailed to a subfloor. The flooring board is comprised of an upper hardwood layer and a plurality of lower softwood layers adhesively bonded together and to the upper layer. The hardwood upper layer is at least 7 mm. in thickness and the lower softwood layers collectively define a thickness of at least about 15 mm.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to hardwood flooring surfaces and, more particularly, to a flooring surface formed of individual multi-layer flooring boards having an upper hardwood layer. Hardwood flooring is typically formed of a plurality of adjacent boards of solid hardwood, such as oak, secured together to form the flooring. Hardwood flooring is a very popular, albeit expensive, flooring surface for commercial and residential buildings. Typical solid hardwood flooring boards are of random length, about 18 millimeters (mm.) thick and 90-125 mm. wide and are provided with mating tongues and grooves on opposed sides to form an interlocking flooring. Such a solid hardwood flooring is very attractive and durable in that it can be repeatedly sanded due to its thickness to restore its finish. However, it cannot be glued directly to concrete. Solid hardwood flooring expands and contracts under variations in temperature and the adhesive securing the wood t...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): E04F15/04E04C3/00
CPCE04F2201/043E04F15/04
InventorFAM, RIMOUN
OwnerGLOBAL WOODFLOORING INC