Abstrict A wood floor panel is disclosed comprising a plurality of substantially
identical individual panel sections having bevels cut in their undersurface
at the edges thereof such that when the sections are abutted together
the bevel cuts of abutting sections form an adhesive well along
which an adhesive bead is applied to fasten and hold the individual
sections together. The panel may optionally be provided with tongues
and grooves, each of which is cut along the entire length of a respective
side edge thereof. Panels of various sizes can be formed using identical
bevel cut panel sections which are merely arranged in the panel
shape and size desired and fastened by the adhesive beads.
Claims What is claimed is:
1. A wood floor panel having a top wear surface, an undersurface
for mating with a substrate and four side edges comprising:
a plurality of wood panel sections each having a top wear surface,
an undersurface, and side edges, each said panel section including
a plurality of substantially identical solid wood strips arranged
in parallel side by side relationship and interconnected by at least
two wires frictionally engaged in respective channels provided in
the undersurface of and extending transversely to the strips of
said sections, each said panel section abutting at a side edge thereof
with a side edge of an adjacent panel section and the area of abutment
of adjacent panel sections including an adhesive well formed in
the undersurface of said panel sections, an adhesive bead provided
in each of said adhesive wells for interconnecting and holding said
abutting panel sections together, and tongues provided along the
entire length of two side edges of said panel and complementary
grooves provided along the entire length of the remaining two side
edges of said panel.
2. A wood floor panel having a top wear surface, and undersurface
for mating with a substrate and four side edges comprising:
a plurality of wood panel sections having a top wear surface, an
undersurface, and four side edges having flat portions, each said
panel section abutting at a flat portion of at least two adjacent
side edges thereof with a respective flat portion of side edges
of adjacent panel sections, the abutment of panel sections at the
flat portions of the side edges thereof being the sole point of
contact between adjacent panel sections, the area of abutment of
adjacent panel sections including an adhesive well on the undersurface
of said panel sections, an adhesive bead provided in each of said
adhesive wells for interconnecting and holding said abutting panel
sections together, and tongues provided along the entire length
of two side edges of said panel and complementary grooves provided
along the entire length of the remaining two side edges of said
panel.
3. A floor panel having a top wear surface, an undersurface for
mating with a substrate, and four side edges comprising:
a plurality of panel sections having a top wear surface, an undersurface,
and four side edges having flat portions, each said panel section
abutting at a flat portion of at least two adjacent side edges thereof
with a respective flat portion of side edges of adjacent panel sections,
the abutment of panel sections at the flat portions of the side
edges thereof being the sole point of contact between adjacent panel
sections, the area of abutment of adjacent panel sections including
an adhesive well on the undersurface of said panel sections, an
adhesive bead provided in each of said adhesive wells for interconnecting
and holding said abutting panel sections together, and tongues provided
along the entire length of two side edges of said panel and complementary
grooves provided along the entire length of the remaining two side
edges of said panel.
4. A floor panel as in claims 1 2 or 3 wherein said panel sections
are square and said floor panel is square.
5. A floor panel as in claims 1 2 or 3 wherein said adhesive well
is formed by a bevel cut along an undersurface of the abutting edges
of each of said panel sections at an angle of approximately 45.degree.
to the undersurface plane of each said section, the depth of penetration
of said bevel from the undersurface toward the wear surface of a
panel section being approximately one half of the thickness of said
panel section.
6. A floor panel as in claim 5 wherein said adhesive bead has a
thickness less than the depth of said adhesive wells formed by the
bevel cuts of adjacent panel sections.
7. A floor panel as in claim 5 wherein the adhesive well formed
by the beveled sides of abutting panel sections has a width greater
than that of said adhesive bead to provide a well for an adhesive
used to mount said panel to a substrate.
8. A floor panel as in claim 1 wherein the wood strips of each
panel section are arranged perpendicularly to the wood strips of
an abutting panel section.
9. A floor panel as in claims 1 2 or 3 wherein said tongues are
provided on opposite side edges of said panel and said grooves are
provided on the remaining opposite side edges of said panel.
10. A floor panel as in claims 1 2 or 3 wherein each panel includes
an even number of panel sections.
11. A floor panel as in claim 10 wherein each panel includes four
panel sections.
12. A floor panel as in claim 10 wherein each panel includes sixteen
panel sections.
13. A floor panel as in claim 10 wherein each panel includes twenty-four
panel sections.
14. A floor panel as in claim 10 wherein each panel includes thirty-two
panel sections.
15. A floor panel as in claims 1 2 or 3 wherein said adhesive
bead is slightly flexible when set.
16. A floor panel as in claim 15 wherein said adhesive bead is
a hot melt adhesive.
17. A floor panel as in claim 16 wherein said adhesive bead is
a polyamid based adhesive.
Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to wood floor panels and is particularly
directed to a unique wood floor panel which is formed from a plurality
of substantially identical sections, each of which has a bevel cut
from an undersurface thereof along each of its side edges, which
bevel cuts form, at the abutment of two sections, an adhesive well
for receiving an adhesive bead joining and firmly interconnecting
the individual panel sections to form a completed floor panel unit.
Since the panel sections are substantially identical, the wood panel
of the invention is simply and easily constructed and is inexpensive
to produce as expensive tongue and grooving of individual panel
sections can be avoided. The completed floor panel may have a pair
of tongues cut along the entire length of two side edges thereof
with complementary grooves cut along the entire length of the remaining
two side edges to enable an interlocking of the panel sections during
installation on a floor substrate. Since all bevel cutting is done
in the undersurface of the panel the wear or show surface is unaffected.
The adhesive wells formed by the bevel cuts of the individual sections
can have a dimension relative to that of the adhesive bead applied
therein to permit a significant amount of free area within and along
the adhesive well which may receive an adhesive used for laying
the floor, thus contributing to the positive retention of a floor
panel set in place on a substrate.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a relative
inexpensive yet reliably constructed wood floor panel formed of
a plurality of substantially identical abutting panel sections,
each section having a bevel undercut along the entire side edge
periphery which forms, with a like bevel cut from an abutting section,
an adhesive well which receives an adhesive bead to interconnect
and hold the adjacent and abutting sections together to form a completed
panel assembly.
An additional object of the invention is to provide wood floor
panels of various sizes using any number of substantially identical
panel sections having the bevel cut noted and interconnected by
an adhesive bead as described in the preceding paragraph.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a floor panel
which is more surely retained in place when set on a substrate due
to the presence of recessed areas in the undersurface formed by
a portion of the adhesive wells unoccupied by the adhesive bead
which may be filled by an adhesive used to secure the wood floor
panel to a substrate.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a wood floor
panel formed of substantially identical interconnected sections
as described above which has tongues provided along the entire length
of two side edges and complimentary grooves provided along the entire
length of the remaining two side edges to interlock the wood panels
together during installation.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a parquet floor
panel which conforms more readily to substrate irregularities, provides
a wearing surface comparable to other thin parquet floor blocks,
and which provides for a reduced installation time.
An additional more specific object of the invention is to provide
a parquet floor panel having a plurality of substantially identical
abutting panel sections, each section formed of a plurality of finger-like
wood strips interconnected by a plurality of restraining wires frictionally
held in respective channels cut transversely to the length of the
strips in the undersurface thereof, each section having the bevel
cut described above and being interconnected with an adjacent abutting
section by the above-described adhesive bead, each section being
arranged such that the wood strips of one section are oriented perpendicularly
to those of an abutting section and the panel having tongues cut
along the entire length of two side edges and grooves cut along
the remaining two side edges.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention
will be more readily ascertained from the detailed description thereof
which follows which is provided in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 illustrates in perspective view the underside of an individual
panel section used to construct a wood floor panel of the invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates the panel section of FIG. 1 with a bevel cut
in the undersurface thereof on all four side edges;
FIG. 3 illustrates in bottom view a floor panel of the invention
constructed using the panel sections of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 illustrates the floor panel of FIG. 3 provided with tongues
on two opposite side edges and grooves on the remaining two opposite
side edges;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines V--V of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines VI--VI of FIG.
4;
FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the lines VII--VII of FIG.
4; and,
FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C respectively illustrate floor panels of the
invention constructed from differing numbers of individual panel
sections.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The wood floor panel of the invention is constructed from a plurality
of substantially identical panel sections 29. These panel sections
are illustrated in a preliminary stage of finishing in FIG. 1. Each
section 29 may include a plurality of substantially identical solid
wood strips or slats 11 which are arranged side by side and held
together by a wire 12 frictionally engaged in a respective channel
13 which is cut into the underside of the strips 11 in a direction
transverse to the strip length. The wire is preferably an aluminum
wire.
The method of manufacturing a wood panel as shown in FIG. 1 by
interconnecting a plurality of wood strips with wires frictionally
engaged in transverse channels in an undersurface thereof and the
machinery therefor is disclosed in Tibbals U.S. Pat. Nos. 3118804
and 3128511; accordingly, a further discussion of the section
29 illustrated in FIG. 1 and its method of manufacture is deemed
unnecessary.
During manufacture of the sections 29 illustrated in FIG. 1 the
abutted strips 11 and interconnecting wires 12 are provided in a
continuous stream on a conveyor over a plurality of panel sections.
To separate the sections one from another a router bit is used to
periodically drill through the wires 12 (thus forming depressions
14 in sections 29).
The individual sections 29 illustrated in FIG. 1 are provided with
a bevel cut in the undersurface thereof on all four edges 18 producing
a bevel 17 on each of the edges, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The bevel
cut begins at the undersurface of the sections, which is the illustrated
upper surface throughout the drawing figures, and extends toward
the wear or finish surface of the sections 29. The bevel extends
to a depth of approximately one half of the thickness of the panel
section 29 as illustrated in the right most portion of FIG. 2.
The bevels 17 are preferably cut at a 45.degree. angle to the plane
of the undersurface of the panel sections 29 to provide a large
surface area for an adhesive bead to bond to as the adhesive bead
will provide the only means of interconnecting the individual sections
29.
A plurality of bevel cut panel sections 29 (four being illustrated
in FIGS. 3 and 4) are abutted together in the manner illustrated
in FIG. 3. The bevel 17 cut in the undersurface at the edge of each
of the panel sections forms, together with a like bevel from the
edge of an abutting section, an adhesive well 19. For the purposes
of illustration, a parquet floor panel is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4
in which the strips of adjacent panel sections are shown as perpendicular
to each other. However, it should be understood the sections 29
can also assume other orientations in the floor panel wherein strips
in adjacent sections might be in parallel.
The adhesive well 19 formed by abutting panel sections 29 is partially
filled with an adhesive bead 21 running therealong, a portion of
which is shown in FIG. 3 with the entire adhesive bead 21 for a
panel being shown in FIG. 4. The adhesive is slightly flexible when
set and is preferably a hot melt polyamid based adhesive. A polyamid
based adhesive is preferred because it is less susceptible to cold
fracture than other adhesives. One adhesive found to be particularly
suitable is ethylvinylacetate. One such source for this adhesive
is the H. B. Fuller Company under Item No. HM1474. The use of an
adhesive which is slightly flexible when set permits a small amount
of relative angular movement between interconnected sections in
the finished panel which enables the panel to conform more closely
with substrate irregularities. Since each of the panel sections
29 are formed of wire interconnected strips, as illustrated in FIGS.
1 and 2 the panel sections 29 will also be somewhat flexible and
further enhance the ability of the completed panel to conform to
substrate irregularities.
The adhesive bead 21 is illustrated in greater detail in FIG. 5.
It fills a good portion, but not all of, the cross section of adhesive
well 19. As illustrated in FIG. 5 the width and depth of the adhesive
well 19 is greater than the width and thickness of the bead 21 providing
free areas 27 on either side of the adhesive bead and an additional
free area between the top of the bead and planar undersurface of
the sections 29. These areas are important and are left vacant to
be filled with a conventional adhesive material used to mount the
floor panel to a substrate. The mounting adhesive will ooze into
these areas between the individual sections 29 of each panel to
help hold the sections and panel in place. As further illustrated
in FIG. 5 the panel sections 29 are simply edge abutted and glued
in this position, thus simplifying manufacture of the individual
sections as well as their assembly together in a floor panel.
FIG. 4 illustrates a further processing of the panel of FIG. 3.
Here, tongues 23 have been cut into the opposite side edges of the
FIG. 3 panel and grooves 25 have been cut in the remaining opposite
side edges. The tongues and grooves extend along the entire length
of a respective edge on which they are formed. Although the tongues
23 (and grooves 25) are provided on opposite side edges of the finished
panel, they may also be provided on adjacent side edges forming
a panel having a tongue, tongue, groove, and groove configuration
along the respective four side edges. The grooves 25 are more particularly
illustrated in FIG. 6 which is a sectional view of a portion of
FIG. 4 while the tongues are illustrated in greater detail in FIG.
7. FIGS. 6 and 7 also show in dotted outline the side edge of an
adjacent panel which may be interlocked with one of the panels of
FIG. 4. Still further FIGS. 6 and 7 show a groove 27 which is provided
so an adhesive material used to secure a panel in place may seep
therein in a manner described above with respect to the adhesive
wells 19 to further retain the wood panels in place. Groove 27 is
provided by cutting the tongues 27 such that a greater depth Y (FIG.
7) is cut from the side edge of a panel in the panel undersurface
side of the tongue than on the wear or show surface side thereof.
The completed floor panel illustrated in FIG. 4 may have its wear
surface sanded and otherwise finished and stained as desired.
Thus far a floor panel has been illustrated formed from four panel
sections. This panel may be conveniently formed in a 12".times.12"
size, with each individual section being approximately 6".times.6".
FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C respectively illustrate floor panels formed
of other numbers of sections 29. FIG. 8A illustrates a panel formed
of 16 individual panel sections 29 or four large sections 31. The
larger sections 31 can be formed as a single section such as illustrated
in FIG. 2 or from a panel assembly such as illustrated in FIG.
3. In either case, all sections have the edge bevel cuts 17 forming
adhesive wells and the adhesive beads 21 at their point of abutment
with other sections. The FIG. 8A panel could be conveniently formed
in a 24".times.24" overall size, with each of the sections
31 being 12".times.12" and including a total of 16 smaller
sections. FIGS. 8B and 8C respectively illustrate a panel similar
to that of FIG. 8A but formed in an overall respective size of 24".times.36"
containing 24 smaller panel sections and 24".times.48"
containing 32 smaller panel sections. FIGS. 8A, 8B, 8C show wood
floor panels without tongues and grooves cut into their side edges,
but these may be provided, if desired, being cut in the same manner
the tongues 23 and grooves 25 illustrated in FIGS. 4 6 and 7.
From the above, it should be evident that a floor panel of the
invention is composed of a plurality of substantially identical
panel sections which are bevel cut such that abutting adjacent sections
form an adhesive well in which an adhesive bead may be set to interconnect
and hold the individual sections into a finished panel. Tongues
and grooves may be optionally provided on the entire length of the
side edges of the finished panel.
Although the bevel 17 illustrated in FIG. 2 is cut at a substantially
45.degree. angle, other angles may also be used and, other types
of bevel cuts may also be used as side edge profiles such as L-shaped
cuts, curved cuts, etc., the important characteristic of the panel
section side profile being that it forms together with a like profile
from an abutting adjacent panel section an adhesive well which receives
an adhesive bead contacting both abutting panel sections.
Although each of the sections 29 have been illustrated as including
a plurality of wood strips 11 held togehter by wires 12 it should
be understood that the panel sections may be formed as a solid piece
of wood or of subsections other than the strips 11 illustrated in
FIGS. 1 and 2 depending on the overall wood pattern effect desired
in the finished panel. Also, although generally square panel sections
have been shown, other shapes such as rectangles, triangles, etc.,
can be used. Likewise, although square and rectangular floor panels
have been shown, other shapes can also be used.
From the above, it should be evident that the floor panel illustrated
and described is easily manufactured. The sections 29 are first
formed and each is then subjected to a cutting and trimming operation
to form the bevels 17 on each of the side edges, which trimming
may also produce a slight shortening of the overall length and width
dimensions of the sections 29. Following the beveling operation,
the individual sections 29 are arranged and held in abuttment to
form the particular wood panel desired and the adhesive bead is
applied to the adhesive well formed by the abutting sections. The
thus interconnected sections forming a panel may then be cut to
form tongues and grooves along the entire length of the side edges
to provide a means to interlock individual panels together, if desired.
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described,
it is to be understood that many modifications can be made to the
invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Accordingly,
the invention is not to be limited by the foregoing description,
but is limited solely by the claims which are appended hereto. |