EP1309761B1

EP1309761B1 - Flooring system with floor layer and sub-floor panels

Info

Publication number: EP1309761B1
Application number: EP01953738A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Robert K Smith
Original assignee: KRUGER PANELS Inc
Current assignee: 4481721 CANADA Inc
Priority date: 2000-08-09
Filing date: 2001-07-31
Publication date: 2009-03-04
Anticipated expiration: 2021-07-31
Also published as: EP1309761A1; ES2323674T3; AU7622901A; ATE424491T1; CA2315462C; HK1057587A1; AU2001276229B2; DE60137852D1; CA2315462A1

Abstract

A floor panel is provided for use in a sub-floor application. The floor pane l has an upper member and a lower member. The upper member is made from a sheet floor material and the lower member is made from a waterproof sheet material. The lower member has a series of projections extending away from the floor panel and located adjacent to an underlying surface when the panel is in use. The projections allow moisture to drain between th e floor panels and the underlying surface and also permit air circulation.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to sub-floor panels and more particularly, to free floating sub-floor panels capable of supporting a floor layer and having a rigid waterproof lower layer that permits moisture drainage and air circulation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A finished floor typically consists of a sub-floor and a flooring surface, supported by the sub-floor. The nature of a sub-floor will vary depending on the flooring surface it needs to support and the environment in which it must function. For example, for linoleum tile or carpet on a main floor of a house, the sub-floor may simply consist of sheets of plywood. For a ceramic tile floor a cement layer will typically also be required.
Basement flooring presents additional challenges; one of which its the possibility of moisture being present and another which is to insulate the floor from what could be a very cold underlying surface of poured concrete. Fixed sub-floors or "non-floating" sub floors can be used in basement applications. This type of flooring may have an underlying sheet of semi rigid plastic having depending protrusions over which is placed a series of plywood panels (see e.g. WO-A-8203099 ). The panels are securely fixed-to the underlying floor using concrete bolts. Fixed sub-floors may be rather labour intensive to install and rely on secure and frequent fastening to prevent movement between adjacent flooring sheets.
U.S. Patent No. 4,945,697 to Ott et al . which teaches a floor tile and floor for direct installation on a support such as a floor or walkway without a sub-floor. This patent teaches a floor system that uses floor tiles comprised of two layers, an upper layer made of ceramic material and a lower layer made from resilient material with anti-skid characteristics. The two layers are secured together to form a floor tile. The lower layer includes drainage channels on the underside, that allow the passage of water underneath the floor tiles. When used outside, the tiles are spaced apart with gaps between adjacent tiles to allow vertical movement between the tiles. When the floor tiles are used indoors, the gap between adjacent tiles is filled with a flexible material that allows vertical shifting of the tiles. These tiles will not provide a rigid sub-floor layer that would be capable of use in a sub-floor application for supporting a further rigid floor layer on top of the tiles since any vertical motion between adjacent tiles would cause the further floor layer to crack.
Another example of a non sub-floor application is U. S. Patent No. 5,950,378 to Council et al . This patent describes a composite modular floor tile for use in athletic playing surfaces such as basketball courts and tennis courts. The floor tile has a top and a bottom member with support nodes extending from the bottom member which provide an air circulation space underneath the floor tiles. The bottom member is made from a resilient impact absorbing material that would not provide a rigid supporting layer and therefore would not be suitable in a sub-floor application.
A further example is WO-A-82/03099 which discloses a protective sheet for the foundation of a wall or floor. This foundation wall has a large number of spaced knobs that protrude from one side and an open channel between adjacent recesses, such that there is a corresponding ridge between the knobs. In addition there may be a filtrating canvas co-acting with the channels.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a flowing system with sub-floor panels capable of supporting a floor layer that will allow moisture drainage and air circulation between the panels and the underlying surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is provided a flowing system as defined in claim 1.
The system comprises subfloor panels capable of supporting a floor layer and providing under-floor drainage. Each panel has an upper member and a lower member attached to the upper member. The upper member is made from a sheet flooring material and the lower member is made from a waterproof sheet material. The lower member has a plurality of projections extending away from the panel to support the panel above an underlying surface and to permit moisture to drain between the panels and the underlying surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a scrap perspective schematic view of the panels of the system of the invention;
Figure 2 is an underside plan of a sub-floor panel according to a preferred embodiment of the invention taken in the direction of Arrow 2 of Figure 1, and showing the lower member with a series of projections and a tongue projecting out from two of the panel edges;Figure 3 is a side elevation of the sub-floor panel of Figure 2 taken in the direction of the stations 3-3;
Figure 4 is an enlarged scrap elevation of the sub-floor panel of Figure 3 indicated in the circle 4, but inverted from Figure 3 to show the panel in its installed orientation, with one of the projections shown in sectional view and adjacent sub-floor panels shown in chain dot outline;
Figure5 is a similar view to Figure 4, but showing the area in the direction of stations 5-5, and an adjacent sub-floor panel shown in chain dot outline;
Figure 6 is a clam-shell exploded perspective view of two of the sub-floor panels to show the tongue and groove relationship;
Figure 7 is a side elevation similar to Figure 3 of an alternative embodiment showing the panels with a key and groove arrangement; and
Figure8 is a clam-shell exploded perspective view of two panels of the embodiment of Figure 7 to show a loose key in its relationship.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference is first made to Figures 1 to 3 to describe a preferred embodiment of the sub-floor panel, designated generally by the numeral 10. The sub-floor panel 10 includes an upper member 12 of sheet flooring material and a lower member 14. The lower member 14 is attached to the upper member 12. The lower member 14 is of polyethylene or other suitable waterproof sheet material and includes a plurality of projections 16 which rest on an underlying surface 11 to support the sub-floor panel 10 on the underlying surface 11 and allow moisture to drain between them and to permit air circulation between the sub-floor panel 10 and the underlying surface 11 when the sub-floor panel 10 is installed. Figure 1 illustrates a series of sub-floor panels 10 adjacent and interlocking one another. In a preferred embodiment, the sub-floor panel 10 is attached to the adjacent sub-floor panel 10 using a tongue 18 and a groove 20 arrangement, which will be described later.
The sub-floor panel 10 will now be described in more detail. As seen in Figure 2, the sub-floor panel 10 may be square, and is preferably manufactured as a 4'by 4'panel, although other sizes may also be manufactured. The upper member 12 is attached to the lower member 14 using an adhesive. The adhesive must be compatible with the upper member 12 and the lower member 14. In a preferred embodiment where the lower member 14 is of polyethylene, the adhesive is Fastbond2000-NF manufactured by 3M Canada Company.
In a preferred embodiment, the upper member 12 is made from random wafer board, such as manufactured and sold under the name Waferweld by Longlac Wood Industries Inc., as opposed to oriented strand board ("OSB"). Random wafer board is manufactured from wood chips that have a random orientation, as opposed to oriented strand board ("OSB") in which wood strands are oriented to lay in a perpendicular fashion with the majority of strands oriented to lay with the longitudinal direction of the board. The random orientation of the chips allows the random wafer board to expand evenly in all directions as opposed to longitudinal expansion tendencies characteristic of OSB which makes random wafer board less prone to buckling in this flooring application. The lower member 14 may be made from System Platon manufactured by Armtec Limited.
Turning now to Figure 4, the projections 16 extend away from the lower member 14 in the opposite direction to the upper member 12. The projections 16 are frustoconical shaped with a bottom surface 24 and a cavity 26 extending from the bottom surface 24 towards the upper member 12. Preferably the projections 16 are aligned in rows and columns to enable the panels 10 to be cut between the projections 16 without leaving any half-cut projections 16. When the panel 10 is installed, the bottom surface 24 of the projections 16 is located adjacent the underlying surface 11. In some applications further levelling of the panels 10 may be required if the underlying surface 11 is uneven. This can be achieved by stacking additional layers of the lower member 14 under the lower member 14 on the panel 10 in the areas where raising is required. The additional layers of the lower member 14 can be sized to fit the area that requires further leveling.
In order to connect adjacent panels, the panel sides may be configured in a tongue and groove arrangement. The upper member 12 of each panel 10 has a tongue18 protruding from two adjacent sides and a groove 20 extending into each of the remaining sides. The groove 20 is sized and operable to receive the tongue 18 to interconnect adjacent panels. The tongue 18 is formed during manufacturing of the panel 10 by shaping the upper member 12.
In use, a series of sub-floor panels are interlocked and located on an underlying surface 11, shown in Figure 1, and abutting walls 15. In the preferred embodiment, adjacent sub-floor panels are interconnected using a tongue and groove arrangement as shown in Figures 4 to 6. Each panel 10 is placed with the projections 16 adjacent the underlying surface. In order to connect each panel 10 to an adjacent panel 10, the tongue 18 of the panel 10 is inserted into the groove 20 located on the adjacent panel 10, as indicated by arrow A shown in Figure 6.
Although not illustrated, it will be appreciated that when the panels 10 have been installed over the underlying surface 11, an additional flooring surface can be laid on top of the floor panels 10. Excess moisture can flow between the projections 16 and air can circulate between the floor panels 10 and the underlying surface 11.
Turning now to Figures 7 and 8, an alternative interlocking arrangement to connect adjacent panels is shown. Each panel 10 has a groove 28 similar to the groove 20 described above, but running along all of the edges of the panel 10. To interlock adjacent panels, a key 30 which is sized to fit within the groove 28 is utilized. The groove 28 is operable to receive approximately half the width of the key 30. When the key 30 has been inserted into the groove 28 of the panel 10, an adjacent panel 10 can be attached to the protruding edge, the remaining half of the key 30.
To install the panels 10 that use a key and groove arrangement, the key 30 must first be inserted into the second groove 28 in the direction shown by arrows B in Figure 8. Once the key 30 is installed the panel 10 is inserted into the second groove 28 on an adjacent panel 10, in the direction shown by arrow C in Figure 8. Similarly, adjacent panels are interconnected until the required sub-floor coverage is achieved.
The preferred embodiment can be modified in many ways. For instance, the lower member 14 is made from any suitable waterproof sheet material. The projections 16 can be located in a random pattern on the lower member 14. The interlocking structure of the tongue and groove arrangement can be any interlocking combination that will prevent significant vertical shifting between adjacent panels. Other adhesives may be used that are capable of securely bonding the upper member to the lower member.

PARTS LIST

10	Sub-floor panel
11	Underlying surface
12	Upper member
14	Lower member
15	walls
16	projections
18	tongue
20	groove
24	Bottom surface
26	cavity
28	Groove
30	key

Claims

A flooring system comprising a floor layer and sub-floor panels (10), characterized in that each of the panels (10) comprises:
an upper member (12) of rigid sheet flooring material;

a substantially rigid lower member (14) attached to the upper member (12), the lower member consisting of a waterproof sheet material having a plurality of projections (16) extending away from the upper member (12) to support the panel (10) above an underlying surface (11) and permit moisture to drain between the panel (10) and the underlying surface (11); and

edges extending about said panel, each of said edges having along it at least one part of a connector assembly for connecting adjacent edges of adjacent of said panels to prevent relative vertical movement therebetween, wherein the sub-floor panels are adapted to be interconnected and to support the floor layer.
A flooring system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the upper member (12) is made from random wafer board.
A flooring system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the lower member (14) is made from a plastics material, preferably polyethylene.
A flooring system according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the lower member (14) is adhesively attached to the upper member (12).
A flooring system according to claim 1, wherein the connector assembly comprises at least one tongue (18) and at least one groove (20).
A flooring system according to claim 1, wherein the connector assembly comprises at least one key (30) and at least one groove (28).
A flooring system according to any preceding claim, wherein the connector assembly comprises a tongue (18) located on two adjacent edges and a groove (20) located on two adjacent edges for connecting the panel to an adjacent panel (10) with at least one corresponding tongue (18) and at least one corresponding groove (20) to prevent relative vertical movement therebetween.
A flooring system according to claim 6, wherein said connector assembly comprises:
a tongue (18) located on two adjacent edges and a groove (20) located on two adjacent edges for connecting the panel to an adjacent panel (10) with two corresponding tongues (18) and two corresponding grooves (20) to prevent relative vertical movement therebetween.