Panel Locking Tongue Rounded Free End
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing panels with fragile carrier materials, such as those containing mineral fillers, suffer from instability at the panel edges due to mechanical forces, leading to potential damage before installation, particularly at the free end of the locking tongue.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a rounded portion at the free end of the locking tongue with a radius equal to or greater than the contact surface, and an inclined contact surface, along with a convex contour on the tongue underside, to enhance stability and cohesion, and includes a groove bottom and edge bar configuration for improved locking and resistance to panel edge separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a locking tongue with a sharp free end is used in panels with fragile carrier materials, then the panel can be manufactured with simpler edge configuration, but the panel edge stability deteriorates and the locking tongue is prone to damage from mechanical forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies curvature by rounding the free end of the locking tongue with a radius of curvature that is at least equal to the distal extent of the contact surface. This rounded configuration prevents stress concentration at sharp edges, thereby improving the stability of panel edges made with fragile carrier materials while maintaining ease of manufacture through a relatively simple geometric modification.
2Strength
If the contact surface is made larger to improve locking stability, then the locking engagement is strengthened, but the radius of the rounded portion must increase which complicates the manufacturing process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes a specific parameter relationship where the radius of curvature of the rounded portion is defined as at least equal to the distal extent of the contact surface. This parameter linkage allows the design to achieve optimal locking strength while maintaining manufacturing simplicity, as the radius automatically scales with the contact surface dimensions rather than being an independent complex geometric parameter.
3Reliability
If a rounded portion with large radius is implemented at the free end of the locking tongue, then the stability of the panel edge is improved, but the overall thickness of the panel must increase to accommodate the rounded geometry
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing the rounded portion only at the critical free end of the locking tongue where stress concentration occurs, rather than rounding the entire tongue. The radius is specifically tailored to match the contact surface extent, providing localized reinforcement exactly where needed for panel edge stability without unnecessarily increasing the overall panel thickness.
Data Source
AI summary
A panel having a core, a top side, a bottom side, and edge pairs provided on opposite panel edges. At least one first edge pair has complementary locking elements. One locking element is a locking groove on a groove side of the edge pair and the complementary locking element is a locking tongue on a tongue side of the edge pair. The locking tongue of a first panel can be placed against the locking groove of a second panel of the same kind when the first panel is tilted, and the two panels can be locked to one another interlockingly by a rotating joining movement of the panels relative to one another. The form fit counteracts moving apart of the locked panels specifically in a direction that lies in the plane of the locked panels and is simultaneously perpendicular to the locked panel edges. The locking tongue has, on a top side, a contact surface directed to the panel top side. The top groove wall has a touch surface designed so that when two panels are in the locked state, the touch surface is mated to the contact surface of the tongue top side. At the front of the locking tongue a rounding adjoins the contact surface so that the rounding forms a cross-sectionally round free end of the locking tongue so that a round transition to the tongue bottom side is created. The rounding of the locking tongue has a radius at least equal to the distal extent of the contact surface.