Mineral Floor Panel Couplings with Fracture-Resistant Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fire-retardant and waterproof materials used in panels are often brittle, leading to fractures and mechanical failures in coupling systems, especially when using glueless locking mechanisms like tongue and groove joints, which can result in visible defects and accelerated wear.
Innovation Solution
The panels are designed with a substrate made of mineral material, featuring coupling means with specific geometries and materials to mitigate stress points, including angled projections and lips with sharp edges avoided, and a press-fit mechanism to prevent fractures during production and installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a glueless locking system with tongue and groove joint is used, then ease of installation is improved, but fracture risk in brittle mineral materials increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature by providing rounded edges and corners on the coupling means, specifically on the tongue and groove components. This eliminates sharp angles and stress concentration points that would cause fractures in brittle mineral materials during the locking operation, thereby maintaining ease of installation while preventing mechanical failure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the coupling means by specifying minimum radius values for rounded edges and corners (e.g., radius of at least 0.5 mm). This parameter modification ensures that the brittle mineral material can withstand the stresses of the glueless locking system without fracturing, resolving the contradiction between installation ease and structural reliability.
2Manufacturing precision
If milling operations are used to produce coupling means, then manufacturing precision is improved, but stress points and microcracks are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent specifies that the coupling means produced by milling operations must have rounded edges and corners with minimum radius values (e.g., 0.5 mm). This curvature requirement prevents the formation of stress concentration points that would otherwise propagate microcracks during installation and use, thereby maintaining manufacturing precision while eliminating reliability issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the geometric parameters of the milled coupling means by imposing minimum radius constraints on edges and corners. This parameter change transforms the sharp-angled milled surfaces into rounded surfaces that distribute stress evenly, preventing microcrack propagation while preserving the precision achieved through milling operations.
3Ease of manufacture
If sharp edges and corners are present in coupling means, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but fracture and cracking occur during installation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent requires that all edges and corners of the coupling means be rounded with specified minimum radius values (e.g., 0.5 mm). This curvature requirement eliminates sharp edges that would cause stress concentration and fracturing in brittle mineral materials during installation, thereby maintaining manufacturing simplicity while dramatically improving fracture resistance.
4Reliability
If locking elements are added to the tongue and groove joint, then locking reliability is improved, but stress concentration at junction points increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature to the junction points where locking elements meet the tongue and groove surfaces. By rounding these critical stress concentration areas with minimum radius values (e.g., 0.5 mm), the patent maintains the locking reliability provided by the additional locking elements while preventing fractures at the vulnerable junction points through stress distribution.
Data Source
AI summary
The floor or wall panel has a substrate and a top layer applied thereon. The substrate consists mainly of a mineral material. The panel is provided, on at least two opposite edges, with coupling means that allow two such panels to be coupled together at the respective edges, wherein in the coupled state there is locking in the vertical direction perpendicular to the plane of the coupled panels and in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the coupled edges and in the plane of the coupled panels.