Floor Element Coupling Geometry for Offset Installation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing floor elements with coupling systems face challenges in offset installations due to height differences, leading to difficulties in coupling and increased stress on coupling elements, especially when made of rigid materials or featuring brittle decorative layers like ceramic or glass.
Innovation Solution
Designing floor elements with coupling edges featuring a male and female part configuration, where the female part has an enlarged vertical inlet opening, allowing for easier engagement even in offset configurations, and using a resin material with specific viscosity to bond the decorative layer and board, enhancing the mechanical locking and impact resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the floor element uses a rigid board material, then the structural strength is improved, but the difficulty of coupling increases due to height differences in offset installations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the coupling elements, specifically increasing the vertical breadth of the female part's inlet opening to more than 0.4 times the board thickness. This parameter modification allows the coupling elements to accommodate height differences in offset installations while maintaining the structural strength of rigid board materials.
2Ease of manufacture
If the floor element uses a brittle decorative layer, then the aesthetic quality is improved, but the reliability of coupling elements decreases due to increased stress
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the geometric parameters of the coupling elements, particularly the increased vertical breadth of the female part inlet opening, which reduces stress concentration on the brittle decorative layer during coupling operations, thereby maintaining coupling reliability while preserving aesthetic quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The design of the female part with an enlarged inlet opening acts as a cushioning feature that distributes and reduces the stress applied during coupling operations, preventing damage to the brittle decorative layer before the actual coupling occurs.
3Ease of operation
If the vertical breadth of the female part inlet opening is increased, then the ease of coupling in offset configurations is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by specifically increasing the vertical breadth of the female part inlet opening to more than 0.4 times the board thickness. This targeted parameter modification improves ease of coupling in offset configurations while minimizing overall device complexity by only altering the necessary dimensional parameter.
Data Source
AI summary
A floor element for forming a floor covering is described herein, wherein the floor element includes a board having edges provided with coupling elements adapted to cooperate with coupling elements of an adjacent similar floor element in the floor covering. The coupling elements include at least one male part and at least one female part, the male part being positioned along a first edge and protruding outwardly beyond an upper edge at said first edge, and the female part being positioned along a second edge and extending inwardly beyond an upper edge at the second edge to form a recess for at least partially receiving the male part. The recess includes an inlet opening having a vertical breadth such that the ratio between the vertical breadth and the thickness of the board is more than 0.4.