Tongue-and-Groove Interlocking Floor Display System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional floor display systems are difficult to install, noisy, pose tripping hazards, and require mechanical fasteners, making them unsafe and costly for industries like automotive displays.
Innovation Solution
An interlocking floor display system featuring a tongue-and-groove mechanism that eliminates the need for mechanical fasteners, comprising a border frame, grid members, panel frames, support panels, and a planar surface, providing a safe, anti-slip, and easy-to-install solution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional floor display systems use mechanical fasteners for assembly, then structural strength is improved, but device complexity and installation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical fasteners (screws, bolts, clips) with a tongue-and-groove interlocking system combined with friction fit and gravity. The tongue portion of one panel fits into the groove of the adjacent panel, creating a secure mechanical connection without requiring additional fastening components. This substitution eliminates the complexity of mechanical fastener assembly while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple fastening mechanisms into a single integrated tongue-and-groove structure. The tongue portion serves as both the connecting element and the locking mechanism, merging what would traditionally require separate components (fastener, receiver, locking mechanism) into one unified interlocking feature. This consolidation reduces device complexity while maintaining assembly strength.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional floor display systems are assembled with multiple components, then adaptability is improved, but installation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the floor display system into modular panels that can be independently assembled and configured. Each panel contains integrated tongue-and-groove features that allow quick connection to adjacent panels without requiring complex assembly procedures. This segmentation enables flexible configuration while maintaining rapid installation through simple interlocking mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The tongue-and-groove interlocking features are pre-formed during panel manufacturing, eliminating the need for on-site assembly of connecting elements. The panels arrive ready-to-assemble with built-in interlocking mechanisms, allowing installers to simply connect panels without performing additional preparation or assembly steps, thereby reducing installation time while maintaining configurability.
3Ease of repair
If conventional floor display systems use separate fastening components, then ease of repair is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the connecting and fastening functions into the integrated tongue-and-groove structure, eliminating the need for separate fastening components. This reduction in part count simplifies the overall system while maintaining the ability to easily disconnect and replace individual panels by simply separating the interlocking tongues and grooves.
Data Source
AI summary
An interlocking floor display system including a border frame; a plurality of grid members positioned within the border frame and defining a grid with multiple grid sections; a panel frame secured into each grid section; a support panel secured within each panel frame; and a planar surface resting on top of the support panel, wherein the interlocking floor display system includes a tongue in groove interlocking system, eliminating the need for mechanical fasteners.