Displaceable Tongue System for Floor Panels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mechanical locking systems for floor panels are costly due to the use of high-quality plastic materials, require individual design for specific widths, and have difficulties in recycling, with the bristle tongue system being inefficient in material usage and joint stability.
Innovation Solution
A displaceable tongue system with a separate flexible spring part attached to a main tongue body, made from different materials, allowing for cost optimization and production in various lengths without specialized tools, using a two-piece design with a main tongue body and separate spring parts that can be easily connected and recycled.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If high-quality plastic materials are used for the tongue system, then joint stability and flexibility are improved, but material costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The tongue system is divided into two separate components: a main tongue body made of inexpensive material and a flexible strip made of elastic material. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the main body provides structural stability while the flexible strip provides the necessary elasticity, achieving joint stability without requiring expensive plastic materials throughout the entire tongue system.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses composite construction by combining two different materials - a rigid main tongue body material and an elastic flexible strip material. This composite approach allows the system to exhibit both rigidity (from the main body) and flexibility (from the strip), resolving the contradiction between joint stability and material cost by using inexpensive materials in a composite configuration that delivers high-quality performance.
2Manufacturing precision
If individual design for specific panel widths is implemented, then locking precision is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tongue system is designed with universal dimensions that can be used across different panel widths. The standardized tongue body and flexible strip configuration can accommodate various panel sizes without requiring individual design modifications, thereby maintaining locking precision while reducing design complexity and manufacturing costs associated with creating multiple specialized components.
3Reliability
If integrated tongue design is used, then joint stability is improved, but recycling difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the tongue system into a main body and a flexible strip, the invention enables easier recycling. The flexible strip can be detached and replaced without affecting the main tongue body structure, allowing for selective recycling of the elastic material while retaining the reusable main body components, thus improving recycling ease while maintaining joint stability through the modular design.
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 reduces material costs by 80% compared to high-cost plastic materials, allows for efficient production in different lengths, and improves joint stability by distributing flexibility and strength effectively, facilitating easier recycling.
Implementation Method 1
a separate flexible spring part (40) which is elastic during vertical displacement of the panels relative to each other
Data Source
AI summary
Building panels, especially floor panels are shown, which are provided with a vertical locking system on adjacent edges including a displaceable tongue that has a main tongue body and separate spring parts attached to the body.