Floor Panel Joint With Bendable Locking Edge for Low-Force Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing interlocking systems for floor panels, particularly plastic ones like vinyl or SPC, face challenges in easy assembly due to high frictional resistance, requiring significant pressing forces and impact, and often result in surface collapse or deformation.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a bendable part with adjacent recesses on the lower surface of the panel, allowing increased angular deflection of the male joining part, facilitated by slanted guiding surfaces, to ease assembly and reduce pressing force requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If additional deflecting elements are underlaid during assembly near the female joining part, then the joining process becomes smoother and easier, but assembly time increases due to the need to manually position and bend these elements
Solution Approach 1:
The bendable part with recesses is pre-formed during manufacturing, creating a hinge mechanism that automatically provides the necessary deflection during assembly. This eliminates the need for workers to manually position and bend additional deflecting elements, thus reducing assembly time while maintaining ease of joining.
Solution Approach 2:
The bendable part with pre-formed recesses serves itself by automatically providing the required angular deflection during the joining process. The hinge mechanism formed by the recesses enables the male joining part to bend and engage with the female joining part without requiring external assistance or additional manual operations.
2Ease of operation
If the lower part of the female fixing part has reduced thickness to increase flexibility, then less angular pressure is needed for smooth fitting, but the panel surface may collapse under pressure from shoes or heels
Solution Approach 1:
The bendable part with recesses is localized to specific areas where flexibility is needed for joining, while the rest of the panel maintains its full thickness and structural integrity. This localized approach allows the panel to be flexible where required for easy joining but remains rigid and stable in areas that support surface loads.
Solution Approach 2:
The bendable part is segmented into multiple adjacent recesses that work together to provide controlled flexibility. This segmentation allows the panel to bend in a controlled manner during joining while distributing the flexibility across multiple small features rather than compromising the entire panel structure.
3Reliability
If high pressing forces and impact force are used to join interlocking means, then stable joining is achieved, but the joining process becomes difficult and requires special tools
Solution Approach 1:
The bendable part with recesses introduces dynamic flexibility to the joining process. The hinge mechanism allows the male joining part to automatically adjust its angle and bend as it engages with the female joining part, converting the static high-force impact method into a dynamic self-adjusting process that requires minimal pressing force.
Solution Approach 2:
The pre-formed recesses change the geometric parameters of the panel, creating a hinge mechanism that alters the joining process from requiring high force to requiring minimal force. The recesses enable the panel to change its effective angle and flexibility, allowing smooth engagement without impact or special tools.
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 solution enables easier and faster interlocking of floor panels with reduced pressing force, preventing accidental disjoining and surface deformation, while maintaining structural integrity.
Implementation Method 1
a bendable part (7) formed in the lower surface (2a) of the floor panel (1), across its entire width, allowing the angular deflection of the male joining part (9) to be increased
Data Source
AI summary
A floor panel (1) has interlocking means (10, 11) formed on the side of its short edges (5, 5′) being joined together. These interlocking means (10, 11) comprise joining parts made as a male joining part (9) and a female joining part (12) and have a vertically active concave locking part (13) and a convex locking part (14), as well as slanted guiding surfaces (15, 16). Furthermore, there is a bendable part (7) formed in the lower surface (2a) of the floor panel (1), comprising a plurality of adjacent recesses (8, 8′) formed in the lower surface (2a), next to the male joining part (9), which are inclined relative to the short edge (5′) of the side surface (6′), allowing the angular deflection of the male joining part (9) to be increased, relative to the horizontal plane, during its interlocking with the female joining part (12) at the short edges (5, 5′).