Herringbone Floor Panel Coupling for Gap-Free Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing floor panels struggle with secure coupling in herringbone patterns, leading to potential gaps or cracks due to differences in height and difficulty in installation, especially when using plastic-based materials that experience significant dimensional changes with temperature fluctuations.
Innovation Solution
Elongate rectangular floor panels with integrally formed mechanical coupling parts on all edges, featuring male and female parts on opposite edges that allow for secure interlocking through rotating and horizontal sliding movements with snap-fit effects, minimizing deformation and ensuring consistent alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If floor panels are coupled using traditional mechanical coupling parts, then the panels can be assembled together, but the coupling is not secure enough leading to gaps or cracks due to height differences
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling system is divided into separate male and female coupling parts with distinct functions: the male part provides a tongue for insertion and a flange for horizontal positioning, while the female part provides a groove for reception and upwardly pointing interlocking parts for vertical securing. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, ensuring secure coupling while accommodating manufacturing tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
The male coupling part's tongue is inserted into the female coupling part's groove, creating a nested structure where one component fits within another. The flange of the male part then engages with the upwardly pointing interlocking parts of the female part, creating multiple nested levels of interlocking that secure the panels together against both horizontal and vertical forces.
2Reliability
If floor panels are designed with complex coupling mechanisms for secure interlocking, then coupling reliability improves, but installation difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring the installer to actively manipulate complex locking mechanisms, the design allows the male coupling part to be simply inserted into the female coupling part in the natural direction of assembly. The interlocking features engage automatically through the insertion motion itself, inverting the traditional approach where active manipulation would be required.
Solution Approach 2:
The coupling system is designed to self-lock through the interaction of its geometric features. When the male part is inserted into the female part, the flange automatically engages with the upwardly pointing interlocking parts, creating secure interlocking without requiring additional steps or active manipulation by the installer. The system serves itself by converting the simple insertion motion into secure locking.
3Ease of manufacture
If floor panels use integrally formed coupling parts, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but coupling precision may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The integrally formed coupling parts serve multiple functions simultaneously: they provide mechanical interlocking through the tongue and groove, horizontal positioning through the flange, vertical securing through the upwardly pointing interlocking parts, and guidance during insertion. This multi-functionality compensates for the simplicity of integral formation by embedding multiple precision requirements into a single manufactured component.
4Adaptability or versatility
If floor panels are designed for herringbone pattern installation, then aesthetic versatility is improved, but installation complexity increases due to directional coupling requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling parts are designed with asymmetric features that naturally guide the installation direction. The male part's tongue and flange are positioned to engage with the female part's groove and interlocking parts in a specific orientation, creating an asymmetric coupling configuration that enables herringbone patterns while maintaining simple installation through automatic alignment.
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4~6
Figure 7~9
AI summary
Set of floor panels, wherein these floor panels (1A-1B) are elongate rectangular and therefore comprise a pair of long edges (2-3) and a pair of short edges (4-5); and wherein both the long and the short edges are provided with mechanical coupling parts (6-7-8-9) which allow the floor panels to be coupled together in such a way that a herringbone pattern may be produced thereby.