Building Panel Locking System with Integrated Displaceable Tongue
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mechanical locking systems for building panels require a separate, precision-made tongue and specialized machinery for insertion, complicating production and increasing costs.
Innovation Solution
Integrating a resilient and displaceable tongue directly into the edge of building panels, eliminating the need for a separate tongue and simplifying production by using milling, sawing, or drilling to form displacement grooves and tongue grooves, which allows for vertical and horizontal locking without additional parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a separate tongue is used in the locking system, then the locking function is achieved, but the production complexity and cost increase due to requiring separate production and precision insertion machinery
Solution Approach 1:
The tongue is merged with the panel edge to form an integrated structure. The tongue is no longer a separate component but is formed as part of the panel edge itself, eliminating the need for separate production and insertion processes while maintaining the locking function.
Solution Approach 2:
The tongue is extracted from being a separate inserted component and is instead formed directly as part of the panel edge through machining processes, removing the complexity of separate component handling and insertion.
2Productivity
If a separate tongue requiring precision insertion is used, then the locking precision is maintained, but the production time and efficiency decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The tongue positioning precision is achieved through the integrated design where the tongue is formed as part of the panel edge. The machining of the panel edge automatically ensures proper tongue positioning without requiring separate precision insertion operations, thereby improving productivity while maintaining precision.
3Device complexity
If the tongue is made as a separate inserted part, then the locking function is achieved, but the number of components and production steps increase
Solution Approach 1:
The tongue and panel edge are merged into a single component. The tongue is formed as an integral part of the panel edge through machining, reducing the total number of components from two (panel and separate tongue) to one (panel with integrated tongue), and simplifying the production process by eliminating separate tongue manufacturing and insertion steps.
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
This approach reduces production complexity and costs, enhances locking stability and strength by allowing horizontal displacement of the tongue, and improves assembly efficiency with fewer required tools, while maintaining precise alignment and secure panel connections.
Implementation Method 1
The resilient and displaceable part of the tongue is preferably configured to be displaced into the displacement groove by a lower lip of the tongue groove during assembling of the first and the second panel. The displaceable part of the tongue may spring at least partly back, when the first and the second panel are positioned in a locked position, and into the tongue groove of the second panel.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2C
Figure 3
AI summary
The present invention relates to building panels 1,1' provided with a mechanical locking system including a tongue 30, at an edge of a first panel 1, cooperating with a tongue groove 20, at an edge of an adjacent second panel 1', for vertical locking of the building panels. The edge of the first panel is provided with a displacement groove 60, which is downwardly open, and includes an inner wall 61, an outer wall 62, and an upper wall 67. The tongue 30 is formed out of the edge of the first panel. A resilient and displaceable part 66 of the tongue 30 is displaceable into the displacement groove 60.