Floor Panel Joint Structure for Swelling-Resistant Vertical Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing floor panel joints are prone to damage from wood swelling and drying due to moisture and temperature changes, and elastic inserts can bend or warp during installation, hindering proper vertical retention.
Innovation Solution
A floor panel joint design featuring a longitudinal coupling element with a bearing projection that integrates into the adjacent panel's groove, providing a second vertical retaining assembly and allowing for a free space to prevent bending of the elastic insert, thus enhancing stability and precision of the joint.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If elastic inserts are used as the main component of the vertical retaining assembly, then vertical retention of floor panels is achieved, but bending or warping of the elastic inserts occurs during joining, hindering proper fitting and retention
Solution Approach 1:
The groove is pre-formed in the bearing surface of the adjacent floor panel at the correct position and dimensions. This preliminary preparation ensures that the bearing projection fits precisely without requiring forceful insertion that could deform the elastic insert, thereby maintaining both vertical retention reliability and ease of operation
Solution Approach 2:
The groove acts as an intermediary element between the bearing projection and the elastic insert. It guides the bearing projection into the correct position and provides a receptacle that accommodates the insert without deformation, mediating the joining process to prevent harm to the elastic component
2Adaptability or versatility
If floor panels are joined with long edge to short edge, then design flexibility is improved, but the joint becomes more susceptible to damage from wood swelling and drying effects
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing projection and groove create a pre-established mechanical interlock that resists the forces generated by wood swelling and drying. This preliminary structural arrangement counteracts the harmful effects before they can cause damage, allowing the flexible long-edge-to-short-edge joining configuration to maintain both adaptability and resistance to environmental degradation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design increases the resistance to wood swelling and drying effects, prevents damage to the panels, and ensures stable vertical retention by allowing for a larger pressing force tolerance without deforming the elastic insert.
Implementation Method 1
a first vertical retaining assembly for the floor panels to be joined, in the form of an elastic insert placed between the floor panels to be joined
Data Source
AI summary
A floor panel system comprises a joint of floor panels wherein each of the floor panels is a rectangular plate with upper and lower surfaces, two long and two short edge side surfaces, and a longitudinal coupling element extending horizontally beyond the upper surface and includes a settling recess that couples with a downwardly extending projection of an adjacent panel, forming a horizontal retaining assembly, a bearing surface at the end of the coupling element which is away from a bearing surface of the adjacent panel, and a bearing projection between the bearing surfaces to form a second vertical retaining assembly and define a lower expansion joint. The panels are joined at the long and short edges using the first vertical retaining assembly and the second vertical retaining assembly via a bearing protrusion integrated into the panel and a having a height greater than the size of the lower dilation gap. Further, the longitudinal coupling element has an upwardly extending vertical projection placed in a settling seat below the guiding groove of the elastic insert.