EP1362147A1

EP1362147A1 - Element for mounting wooden floor boards

Info

Publication number: EP1362147A1
Application number: EP02706877A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Alain Villafines
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-02-21
Filing date: 2002-02-19
Publication date: 2003-11-19
Also published as: FR2817891B1; FR2817891A1; WO2002066756A1

Abstract

The invention concerns an L-shaped element (10) comprising a horizontal wing (12) with a lower surface urged to be in contact with an upper surface of a subjacent ledger strip (32) and an upper surface urged to be in contact with the underside of a board (30). The thickness of the horizontal wing is selected so as to define a first spacer dimension (b) between the underside of the board and the ledger strip. It further comprises a vertical wing (20) extending over a height less than the thickness of a board and having a first surface urged in contact with one of the edges of said board and a second surface urged to be in contact with the opposite edge of another adjacent board. The thickness of the vertical wing is selected so as to define a second spacer dimension (a) between the two opposite edges of two adjacent boards, both surfaces of the vertical wing further bearing means (22) being fastened to the edge of the corresponding board, with horizontally projecting tenons (22) dimensioned so as to co-operate with a groove (36) with matching profile formed on the edge of the corresponding board.

Description

Fitting piece for wooden parquet boards

The invention relates to the installation of parquet floors and similar structures. It relates more particularly to the production of parquet floors for outdoor wooden terraces.

Given the exposure to the weather, wooden terraces are often made from exotic, hard woods, and it is necessary to pay particular attention to the assembly of the parquet in order to take into account the possible deformations of the wooden slats under the effect of thermal cycles and variations in humidity.

Usually, wooden terraces are made from parquet planks placed on a bed formed of joists previously fixed to the ground by a system of dowels adapted to different types of surfaces (earth, concrete, etc.). The wooden boards are attached to these joists using stainless steel screws running right through the boards to fix them on the joists. Depending on the nature of the wood used and its possible deformations, in particular the increase in width, a clearance between two strips of wood is necessary to allow the wood to expand. The width of this interval, of the order of 3 to 8 mm, depends on the species of wood used.

This traditional mounting method has a large number of drawbacks:

- stainless steel screws are very difficult to install, since hardwoods can split at the location of the screwing; it is therefore necessary to prepare pilot holes, resulting in additional labor costs and the impossibility of reusing the wooden planks in the event that the floor is one day dismantled.

- in addition, and depending on the species used (fibers more or less tight), anti-skid grooves must be profiled along the length of the boards to avoid the risk of slipping, especially on floors wet; the choice of the positioning of the screws, in a groove or else out of the grooves, always poses significant difficulties because of the risks of bursting and of wood splinters when screwed. - the heads of the screws being visible, for the sake of aesthetics the axes of the screws must be precisely positioned to respect an alignment visually offering a neat finish.

- at the time of screwing, care must be taken to drive in the screws to a depth just necessary to be flush with the surface of the wooden strip, without driving it too much or, above all, not enough, because a protruding screw head would be dangerous.

- wood must be treated regularly with various products, for example regularly impregnated with an appropriate oil; however the oil tends to stagnate on the screws, to change their color and the wood tends to flake relatively quickly at this point.

- the use of screws or visible points also poses an important safety problem: in fact, the natural movements of the wood (bending and expansion, variations in texture between the wet period and the dry period) can exert significant efforts in shearing on the screws passing through the blades, thus risking twisting or breaking these screws; the risk of accidents due to instability of wooden blades is therefore very serious.

- finally, the holes made in the blades to introduce the screws, combined with the natural movements of the wood, considerably reduce the service life of the blades thus laid, in comparison with non-drilled blades.

We have already proposed, as described for example in the US-A-

4,620,403 and WO-A-95/25856, to use mounting parts in the general form of brackets, nailed to the joists, and in which a vertical wing carries on each of its faces points projecting horizontally so as to be able bite into the edge of each of the adjacent blades facing each other.

These fasteners overcome the drawbacks of traditional mounting by screwing the boards onto the joists, but they nevertheless have other drawbacks:

- the brackets being nailed on the joists, and possibly on the edge of the boards, a bad positioning or a defective nailing creates a misalignment of the board compared to the others, which leads to immediately visible defects of alignment and / or flatness of the floor, defects that are difficult to make up for due to the mounting method (by nailing);

- the brackets and the nails being metallic parts, they are subject to oxidation, which makes this mounting technique ill-suited to exterior floors, permanently exposed to the weather;

- boards and joists are joined together tightly, so without any degree of freedom to absorb the natural movements of the wood: the floor, which does not have the possibility of "playing", thus risks deforming, this drawback here again being aggravated in the case of exterior floors, subject to very large variations in both humidity and temperature;

- this assembly is not reversible: a disassembly of the parquet floor supposes the uprooting of the points driven into the edges of the wood and that of the retaining nails: such an operation, if it is possible, remains long and painful, and in any condition as a result, the metal brackets cannot be reused after being torn off.

- compared to a traditional assembly by screw, the saving in labor time is minimal, taking into account the need to nail the brackets and hammer the blades in order to allow the insertion of the attachment points in the wood song;

- lastly, this technique, while it may be suitable for mounting softwood parquet boards, is not suitable for hardwoods (in particular hard exotic woods, such as teak or ripped, used to cover outdoor terraces) because tacks and nails tend to twist due to the resistance of wood to penetration.

The invention proposes a new method of mounting parquet boards, in particular for outdoor wooden terraces, which overcomes all of the aforementioned drawbacks.

Essentially, the invention proposes to use mounting parts, fixed by screwing on the joists and secured to the lateral faces.

(edges) of the wooden boards, these mounting pieces defining the interval between adjacent boards as well as the interval between the underside of the board and the joist on which the board is mounted.

More specifically, this part allowing the parquet boards to be mounted on the joists is of a general type known from US-A-4620403 mentioned above. tee, that is to say a square-shaped piece comprising: a horizontal wing having two opposite faces, namely a lower face capable of coming into contact with the upper face of an underlying joist and a face upper able to come into contact with the underside of a blade; a vertical wing extending over a height less than the thickness of a blade and having two opposite faces, namely a first face capable of coming into contact with one of the edges of said blade, and a second face capable of come into contact with the edge vis-à-vis another blade placed adjacent to said blade, both sides of the vertical wing further carrying means for hooking to the edge of the homologous blade ; and means capable of allowing the attachment of the part to the underlying joist.

Characteristically of the invention, the thickness of the horizontal wing is chosen so as to define a first dimension of spacer between the underside of the blade and the joist, the thickness of the vertical wing is chosen so as to define a second spacer dimension between the two edges facing two adjacent blades, and the attachment means of the vertical wing comprise pins projecting horizontally and dimensioned so as to cooperate with a homologous profile groove formed on the edge of the corresponding blade.

In an alternative implementation, the means capable of allowing the attachment of the parts to the underlying joist comprise a support rail, the parallel lateral edges of which define straight-line guides cooperating in sliding with a groove of homologous profile for - Mée in said horizontal wing, so as to provide a degree of freedom in translation in the transverse direction relative to the direction of the blades.

The invention also relates to a parquet made with the mounting piece above, parquet comprising, on the one hand, a plurality of parallel wooden blades, mounted adjacent and not contiguous, essentially devoid of fixing holes to the joists and comprising on their song a groove, and, on the other hand, a plurality of mounting parts of these boards to the joists.

0 We will now describe an example of implementation of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, where the same reference numerals designate in all the figures elements that are either identical or functionally similar. Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views, respectively from above and from below, of the mounting piece according to the invention. Figure 3 is a section showing how the part of Figures 1 and 2 ensures the mounting and positioning of the floorboards. Figure 4 is equivalent to Figure 1, for an alternative embodiment of the mounting part.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate an alternative embodiment of the part of the invention, where it cooperates with a support rail providing an additional degree of freedom in the transverse direction. Figures 7 and 8 illustrate the manner in which the parquet is mounted by means of parts such as those illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

0

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a first embodiment of the fixing and mounting part according to the invention, hereinafter simply designated "part".

This part 10 performs a multiple function of (i) fixing the blades to the housing, (ii) connecting the adjacent blades to each other, (iii) isolating the blades from the housing and (iv) isolating the adjacent blades from each other. More specifically, the part 10 defines a spacer thickness with a clearance allowing free circulation of air, in particular to absorb the stresses of expansion and to allow aeration ensuring in particular the rapid evacuation of moisture. which could accumulate under the floor. The part 10 is advantageously a part made of molded composite material. The material will be chosen to have good mechanical properties and resist weathering and aging. One can for example use a polyamide 6.6 composite filled with glass fibers such as Technyl (registered trademark of Rhône-Poulenc) FE50221, which is a technical material used in particular in the rail sector taking into account its excellent resistance to differences in climates and temperatures (hot / cold, humidity / dryness, frost, etc.). The chosen material is advantageously black or dark brown in color to make the room very discreet and invisible between the parquet boards. Piece 10 has a general square shape, with two unequal wings. A horizontal wing 12 has a generally rectangular shape (for example a length of the order of 92 mm for a width of 50 mm). It can be designed as a full face or, as shown, a tapered face 14 bounded by a perimeter thick ^'16 having a predetermined thickness (for example 4 mm). A central reinforcing rib can also be provided with this same thickness; finally, the peripheral contour 16 preferably has openings allowing the possible evacuation of the moisture retained in the thinned part 14. The horizontal wing 12 comprises means capable of allowing the attachment of the part to the underlying joist, namely holes 18 intended to receive one or more screws for mounting the part on a joist, against which the horizontal wing 12 will be applied. These holes 18 may advantageously be oval to leave a margin of adjustment if, when positioning the part, the hole came to be above a screw fixing the housing; an oval hole will then allow the mounting screw to be placed a little further. It is also possible to increase the number of screw holes to overcome this difficulty. Finally, in the case of multiple holes, the bottom of the holes may be provided with a plastic veil, which will be easily drilled for the hole which will be chosen and which will ensure sealing for the others.

The part 10 also comprises a vertical wing 20, shorter than the horizontal wing 12. The length of this vertical wing is less than the thickness of one of the wooden planks of the parquet; its length is for example 15 mm, for a thickness of 3 mm and a width of 50 mm.

The vertical wing 20 carries in the upper part of the tenons 22, for example flat tenons of thickness 4 mm and width 8 mm, extending horizontally on one side and the other of the vertical wing 20. Finally , the part 10 has a tongue 24, the same thickness as the horizontal wing 12 and extending the latter on the other side of the wing vertical 20. At its opposite end, the horizontal wing 12 can be provided with a recess 25 intended to receive the tongue 24 of the adjacent part, in case the overall length of the part is of the same order as the width of a blade. FIG. 3 illustrates the way in which the piece 10 is placed between the parallel wooden strips 30 and the joists 32 of the bed on which the parquet is mounted.

The horizontal wing 12 is fixed to the joist 32 by a screw 34 introduced into the hole 18. The vertical wing 20 projects between the two adjacent blades 30 and the pins 22 are housed in a homologous groove 36 formed all along the edge of the blade 30.

The vertical wing 20 thus imposes, because of its thickness, an interval a between the adjacent blades 30. This interval is maintained at a regular value, for example a = 3 mm in the case of the use of hard wood. little subject to deformation.

The horizontal wing 12, as well as its extension 24 located under the adjacent strip, imposes a spacing b between the strip 30 and the joist 32, for example b = 4 mm. This defines an interval between the floor and the joists on which it is laid, which avoids any retention of moisture. The humidity which can be introduced in this place, for example during a rain, as well as that accumulated between the joists in the interval between the floor and the ground, will be quickly evacuated after the rain due to the ventilation provided by the intervals a between the blades. FIG. 4 illustrates a variant of the part of FIG. 1, usable in particular when the blades are of soft wood subject to strong dimensional variations as a function of temperature and humidity. For these woods, there is generally provided a spacing a of the order of 8 mm to allow the blades to expand without deforming the floor. One can then advantageously use the part illustrated in FIG. 4, where the studs 22 are connected to the vertical wing 20 by an elastically deformable connection, for example in the form of a bellows defined by thin deformable walls 26 connecting the studs 22 to the wing 20 by leaving a central vacuum. The bellows is calculated to allow a maximum bending of about 5 mm, which will allow the post / blade connection to deform to follow the expansion of the wood and return to its initial position once that the blades will have returned to their original size. The pins 22 are advantageously provided with teeth 28 intended to improve the attachment in the groove of the soft wooden blade inside the groove, with a non-return shape such that, once inserted in the groove, these teeth serve as hooks to allow the studs to follow the movements of the wood during swelling and retraction in bad weather.

FIG. 4 also illustrates an alternative embodiment (applicable both to the part of FIGS. 1 and 2) allowing a more efficient evacuation of the water retained between the part 10 and the wooden strip. This evacuation is particularly important in cold regions, because outside the freezing of residual water is likely to cause unpleasant creaking of the floor. To this end, the extra thickness 16 is configured, instead of a peripheral contour, in the form of central and radial ribs so as to allow water to be discharged through the free edges. In addition, the thinned face 14, instead of being horizontal, is inclined from the center outwards, as can be seen in the figure, to facilitate the flow of water by this slope; the thickness varies, for example, from 2 mm in the center to 1 mm at the edge (values purely indicative, with a thickness of 4 mm for the ribs 16).

In the variant of implementation of FIGS. 5 and 6, the part 10, instead of being directly screwed on the joist 32, is mounted on the latter sliding in the transverse direction (that is to say in the direction of the joist 32, perpendicular to the direction of the blade 30), by means of a support rail 40.

As can be seen in the perspective of Figure 5 and in the cross-sectional view of Figure 6, the cross section of the support rail 40 is such that its longitudinal edges 42 have a shoulder 44 defining after screwing on the joist 32 a slide, for example 5 mm wide and 2 mm high, on each side of the central part of this support rail. The latter is also produced with a male end 46 and a female end 48, so that, during assembly, the male part connects to the female part of the preceding support rail, thus forming a continuous rail. To allow it to slide on the support rail, the mounting parts 10 is formed on its horizontal wing 12 with a longitudinal groove 50 extending from one end to the other, this groove being provided with flanges 52 so as to define an internal profile homologous to that of the external profile, in section, of the support rail 40 (Figure 6). The part 10 can thus slide naturally on the support rail 40, with a longitudinal displacement on the latter without limitation of travel.

This characteristic makes it possible in particular to use more nervous woods, that is to say having a greater range of motion. Another advantage is to be able to use wooden strips of greater width, without limitation of dimension, for example up to 60 mm or 140 mm as required, and even to make an assembly of boards of different widths.

The sliding mounting part 10 can be put in place before, or after, the fixing of the support rail 40 on the joist 32. It is possible to put on the rail as many sliding parts 10 as necessary for mounting the slats, l user fixing this sliding part in the wooden blade as with the fixed screwed models, that is to say by driving the pins 22 into the groove 36, the characteristics and advantages of positioning being the same. It is also possible to mix the use of two types of mounting parts, fixed screwed part and sliding part.

Figures 7 and 8 show the way in which a wooden floor is mounted using the parts according to the invention that have just been described with reference to Figures 1 to 3. After having put in place a blade 30, the installer comes to put in place on each joist 32 a part 10, by sliding the projecting part 24 (not visible in FIGS. 7 and 8, but described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3) under the blade 30. The studs of the part are introduced in the groove 36 of the blade field 30 and the assembly formed by the part and the last blade 30 is pressed against the penultimate blade so as to block the whole. The installer can then screw the part 10 onto its joist, as illustrated in FIG. 7, to form a blade / part / joist assembly that is perfectly secured and without play. The installer thus proceeds over the entire length of the blade, which will then be permanently held the heeling. As illustrated in Figure 8, the discovery pe in length of the blade is adjusted so as to locate the end of the blade above a joist 32, substantially in the middle thereof, the part 10 then coming to support on horseback both this blade and the next plank in alignment. The blade is then permanently fixed, and the installer can proceed to mounting the next adjacent blade.

This system allows the installer to leave a regular and constant play between the boards, ensuring natural drying and ventilation while allowing unconstrained expansion and retraction of the wood. The design and the profiling of the part according to the invention allow the installer to no longer waste time looking for a regular and constant spacing; implementation is therefore particularly facilitated. The parts of the invention, assembled with wooden slats, make it possible to unite and fasten together all these slats and thus produce a homogeneous floor.

The piece of composite material (therefore neutral) serves as insulation between the wooden strip constituting the floor and the support joist. There can thus no longer be any water retention or contact between the different pieces of wood (blades and elements of the heel).

In addition, the design of the piece allows it to adapt without difficulty to the installation of gasoline and therefore of different mechanical properties (softwood, teak, ipe or any other exotic wood), and also allows to assemble between they have blades of standard thickness 19 mm, or more, on lengths of 90 or 120 cm.

An important advantage of the system according to the invention also rests on the possibility of dismantling the floor without difficulty and of reusing the wooden strips, which will never have been drilled.

Claims

1. A part for mounting wooden parquet boards on joists forming a support bed for the parquet, this part being a square-shaped part comprising:

- A horizontal wing (12) having two opposite faces, namely a lower face capable of coming into contact with the upper face of an underlying joist (32) and an upper face capable of coming into contact with the underside a blade (30), - a vertical wing (20) extending over a height less than the thickness of a blade and having two opposite faces, namely a first face capable of coming into contact with one edges of said blade, and a second face capable of coming into contact with the edge facing another blade placed adjacent to said blade, both sides of the vertical wing bearing in in addition to means (22; 44) for hooking to the edge of the homologous blade, and

- Means (18) able to allow the attachment of the part to the underlying joist. part (10) characterized in that: - the thickness of the horizontal wing is chosen so as to define a first dimension of spacer (b) between the underside of the blade and the joist,

the thickness of the vertical wing is chosen so as to define a second dimension of spacer (a) between the two edges facing two adjacent blades, and

- The attachment means of the vertical wing comprise pins (22) projecting horizontally and dimensioned so as to cooperate with a groove (36) of homologous profile formed on the edge of the corresponding blade.

2. The part of claim 1, wherein the studs are connected to the vertical wing by a link (26) elastically deformable.

3. The part of claim 1, wherein the means (18) adapted to allow the attachment of the part to the underlying joist comprising- nent a support rail (42) whose parallel lateral edges (42) define rectilinear slides (44) cooperating slidingly with a groove (50, 52) of homologous profile formed in said horizontal wing (12), so as to provide a degree of freedom in translation in the transverse direction relative to the direction of the blades.

4. A wooden parquet, mounted on joists (32) forming a support bed for this parquet, this parquet comprising:

- A plurality of parallel wooden strips (30), mounted adjacent and not contiguous, essentially devoid of drilling for attachment to the joists, and

- A plurality of mounting parts for fixing these boards to the joists, each of these parts (10) being a square-shaped part comprising: - a horizontal wing (12) having two opposite faces, namely a lower face able to come into contact with the upper face of an underlying joist (32) and an upper face able to come into contact with the underside of a blade (30),

a vertical wing (20) extending over a height less than the thickness of a blade and having two opposite faces, namely a first face capable of coming into contact with one of the edges of said blade, and a second face capable of coming into contact with the edge facing another blade placed adjacent to said blade, both sides of the vertical wing further carrying means (22; 44) hooking to the edge of the homologous blade, and

- Means (18) able to allow the attachment of the part to the underlying joist. parquet characterized in that:

- Said wooden strips are essentially devoid of fixing holes to the joists and have a groove on their edges

(36)

- the thickness of the horizontal wing of the mounting parts is chosen so as to define a first dimension of spacer (b) between the underside of the blade and the joist, - the thickness of the vertical wing of the mounting parts is chosen from so as to define a second spacer dimension (a) between the two edges facing two adjacent blades, and the means for hooking the vertical wing of said mounting pieces include studs (22) projecting horizontally and dimensioned so as to present a homologous profile of said groove (36) formed on the edge of the corresponding blade.