US20170226752A1

US20170226752A1 - Floor assembly

Info

Publication number: US20170226752A1
Application number: US15/415,120
Authority: US
Inventors: Yao-Hung Tsai
Original assignee: NEXUS GLOBAL Co Ltd
Current assignee: NEXUS GLOBAL Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-02-05
Filing date: 2017-01-25
Publication date: 2017-08-10
Also published as: CN107044199B; CN107044199A; AU2017200359A1; TW201728815A; TWI579446B

Abstract

A floor assembly includes a plurality of boards and bases. Each board is provided on the bottom surface thereof with a sliding groove. Each base includes a main body, a positioning member, and first and second buckling members. The positioning member is slidably disposed in the sliding groove of the board. The first buckling member is located at the left side of the main body and has a buckling block and a notch. The second buckling member is located at the right side of the main body and has an accommodating space and a protrusion. The adjacent bases are connected with each other in a way that the buckling block is disposed in the accommodating space and the protrusion is embedded in the notch. As a result, the floor assembly is simplified in structure and assembling process, thereby convenient in construction and stable in structure.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a floor assembly and more particularly, to a floor assembly which is convenient in construction and stable in structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Taiwan Patent No. M271046 disclosed a wooden floor assembly which is composed of a plurality of floorboards and a plurality of connecting retainers. Each floorboard has a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion. The adjacent floorboards are connected in a way that a plurality of connecting retainers are embedded in the second connecting portion of the floorboard by an end thereof and inserted in the first connecting portion of the floorboard by the other end thereof, and the floorboards are screwed together by a plurality of screws. After connecting the floorboards one by one in such manner, an indoor floor can be accomplished. However, the construction of the aforesaid wooden floor assembly needs wooden screws to connect the connecting retainers with the floorboards, and still needs improvements.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,805,903 disclosed a locking mechanism for flooring boards, wherein a locking device is provided to replace the aforesaid wooden screws. However, in order that the locking device can be successfully engaged with floorboards, a relatively larger interval should be provided between the platform of the third protruding extension of the locking device and a tongue of the floorboard. Such configuration design makes the floorboard liable to be separated from the locking device. To overcome this problem, in the patent the second protruding extension of the locking device is formed with a tooth. The tooth is embedded in the floorboard to prevent the floorboard from being separated from the locking device. However, in the patent the tooth is embedded in the floorboard in a destructive manner. Therefore, when the floorboards and the locking device are disassembled, the tooth will certainly cause the floorboard unrestorable damage, so that the floorboard is hard to be reused.
Taiwan Patent No. 201504505 disclosed an outdoor mosaic floor which includes a plurality of plate bodies, a plurality of bases and at least one fastener. The positioning portion of each base is slidably disposed in the chute of the plate body. The first sidewall surfaces of the adjacent bases are engaged with each other by fastening portions thereof. The second sidewall surfaces of the adjacent bases are abutted against each other by convex and concave portions thereof. At least one fastener is engaged with the second sidewall surfaces of the adjacent bases to improve the efficiency of assembling the outdoor mosaic floor and the structural stability of the outdoor mosaic floor, thereby improve the safety of the people walking on the outdoor mosaic floor. However, in the manufacture of the aforesaid outdoor mosaic floor, not only the bases but also the fasteners should be manufactured. The bases and the fasteners are made of plastic, so a large amount of plastic should be used. In the condition that the price of plastic is higher and higher, the manufacturing cost is certainly increased. Besides, in the assembling process of the outdoor mosaic floor, two bases have to be connected by the fasteners. Therefore, the construction of the outdoor mosaic floor has an extra step of installing the fasteners onto the bases, that needs further improvements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a floor assembly which is simplified in structure and assembling process, thereby convenient in construction.
To attain the above objective, the present invention provides a floor assembly which includes a plurality of boards and a plurality of bases. Each of the boards is provided on a bottom surface thereof with a sliding groove. Each of the bases includes a main body, a positioning member, a first buckling member and a second buckling member. The main body has a top surface, a bottom surface, a left side, a right side, a front surface and a rear surface. A transverse axis is defined to extend from the left side to the right side. A longitudinal axis is defined to extend from the front surface to the rear surface. The positioning member is located on the top surface of the main body and slidably disposed in the sliding groove of the board. The first buckling member is located at the left side of the main body and provided with a buckling block and a notch located between the top surface and the left side of the main body and concaved along the transverse axis. The second buckling member is located at the right side of the main body and provided with an open accommodating space and a protrusion located between the top surface and the right side of the main body and extended along the transverse axis. The adjacent bases are connected with each other in a way that the buckling block of the first buckling member is disposed in the accommodating space of the second buckling member and the protrusion of the second buckling member is embedded in the notch of the first buckling member. As a result, the floor assembly of the present invention has no such fastener as that used in the conventional floor assembly to be installed between two adjacent bases. Therefore, the constructor can assemble the floor assembly only by connecting the first buckling member of a base with the second buckling member of another base, so that the floor assembly is not only simplified in structure but also simplified in assembling process, thereby convenient in construction and stable in structure.
Preferably, the buckling block of the first buckling member has a plurality of first positioning teeth aligned along the longitudinal axis; the second buckling member is provided inside the accommodating space thereof with a plurality of second positioning teeth, and the arrangement of the second positioning teeth and the arrangement of the first positioning teeth are staggered; the adjacent bases are engaged with each other by the first positioning teeth and the second positioning teeth thereof.
Preferably, the notch of the first buckling member has a plurality of first positioning teeth aligned along the longitudinal axis; the protrusion of the second buckling member has a plurality of second positioning teeth adjacent to the accommodating space, and the arrangement of the second positioning teeth and the arrangement of the first positioning teeth are staggered.
Preferably, the bottom surface of the board is provided with a positioning groove; the top surface of the base is provided with a positioning rib corresponding in position to the positioning groove; the positioning rib is disposed in the positioning groove.
Preferably, each of the bases has two said positioning members, and each of the boards has two said sliding grooves; the positioning rib is located between the positioning members, and the positioning groove is located between the sliding grooves.
Preferably, the buckling block of the first buckling member is primarily composed of an outer wall, a bottom wall and an inner inclined wall adjacent to the bottom surface of the main body; the accommodating space of the second buckling member is primarily formed by an inner wall adjacent to the bottom surface of the main body, a bottom wall and an outer inclined wall.
Preferably, the buckling block of the first buckling member is provided on outsides of the outer wall, the bottom wall and the inner inclined wall thereof with a plurality of first positioning teeth aligned along the longitudinal axis; the second buckling member is provided on insides of the inner wall, the bottom wall and the outer inclined wall thereof with a plurality of second positioning teeth, and the arrangement of the second positioning teeth and the arrangement of the first positioning teeth are staggered; the adjacent bases are engaged with each other by the first positioning teeth and the second positioning teeth thereof.
Preferably, the buckling block is provided at a juncture of the bottom wall and the inner inclined wall thereof with a round corner.
Preferably, the sliding groove of the board is composed of a narrow passage and a wide inner trough communicating with the narrow passage; the positioning member is composed of a vertical section and a horizontal section; an end of the vertical section is connected to the top surface of the main body; another end of the vertical section is connected to the horizontal section; the vertical section and the horizontal section of the positioning member are slidably disposed in the narrow passage and the wide inner trough of the sliding groove of the board respectively.
Preferably, the base has a through hole penetrating through the top surface of the base and the bottom surface of the base.
Besides, it is another objective of the present invention to provide a base of a floor assembly. The base includes a main body, a positioning member, a first buckling member and a second buckling member. The main body has a top surface, a bottom surface, a left side, a right side, a front surface and a rear surface. A transverse axis is defined to extend from the left side to the right side. A longitudinal axis is defined to extend from the front surface to the rear surface. The positioning member is located on the top surface of the main body. The first buckling member is located at the left side of the main body and provided with a buckling block and a notch located between the top surface and the left side of the main body and concaved along the transverse axis. The second buckling member is located at the right side of the main body and provided with an open accommodating space and a protrusion located between the top surface and the right side of the main body and extended along the transverse axis. As a result, the constructor can connect two adjacent bases by connecting the first buckling member and the second buckling member of the bases without using such fastener as that used in the conventional floor assembly to be installed between two adjacent bases. Therefore, the base is simplified in structure and capable of simplifying the assembling process of the floor assembly, thereby improving the convenience in construction.
Preferably, the buckling block of the first buckling member has a plurality of first positioning teeth aligned along the longitudinal axis; the second buckling member is provided inside the accommodating space thereof with a plurality of second positioning teeth, and the arrangement of the second positioning teeth and the arrangement of the first positioning teeth are staggered.
Preferably, the buckling block of the first buckling member is primarily composed of an outer wall, a bottom wall and an inner inclined wall adjacent to the bottom surface of the main body; the accommodating space of the second buckling member is primarily formed by an inner wall adjacent to the bottom surface of the main body, a bottom wall and an outer inclined wall.
Preferably, the buckling block is provided at a juncture of the bottom wall and the inner inclined wall thereof with a round corner.
Preferably, the bottom wall of the first buckling member has a through hole, and the bottom wall of the second buckling member has a through hole corresponding in position to the through hole of the bottom wall of the first buckling member.
Preferably, the positioning member is composed of a vertical section and a horizontal section; an end of the vertical section is connected to the top surface of the main body; another end of the vertical section is connected to the horizontal section.
Preferably, the top surface of the base is provided with a positioning rib.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a base of a floor assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the base of the floor assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a lateral view of the base of the floor assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the floor assembly of the present invention, primarily showing the condition that a base is to be connected with another base and therefore inclined at an angle.

FIG. 5 is another sectional view of the floor assembly of the present invention, primarily showing the condition that a base is connected with another base.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the floor assembly of the present invention, primarily showing the arrangement of the floor assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-3 and 5, the floor assembly 10 of the present invention includes a plurality of boards 30 and a plurality of bases 50. Each of the boards 30 is provided on the bottom surface thereof with a sliding groove 31. Each of the bases 50 includes a main body 51, a positioning member 53, a first buckling member 55 and a second buckling member 57. The main body 51 has a top surface 511, a bottom surface 512, a left side 513, a right side 514, a front surface 515 and a rear surface 516. A transverse axis L1 is defined to extend from the left side 513 to the right side 514, and a longitudinal axis L2 is defined to extend from the front surface 515 to the rear surface 516. The positioning member 53 is located on the top surface 511 of the main body 51 and slidably disposed in the sliding groove 31 of the board 30. The first buckling member 55 is located at the left side 513 of the main body and provided with a buckling block 551 and a notch 552 located between the top surface 511 and the left side 513 of the main body 51 and concaved along the transverse axis L1. The second buckling member 57 is located at the right side 514 of the main body 51 and provided with an open accommodating space 571 and a protrusion 572 located between the top surface 511 and the right side 514 of the main body 51 and extended along the transverse axis L1. The adjacent bases 50 are connected with each other in a way that the buckling block 551 of the first buckling member 55 is disposed in the accommodating space 571 of the second buckling member 57 and the protrusion 572 of the second buckling member 57 is embedded in the notch 552 of the first buckling member 55. Besides, for preventing the board 30 located on the base 50 from displacing along the longitudinal axis L2, the main body 51 of each base 50 has a through hole 517 penetrating through the top surface 511 of the main body 51 and the bottom surface 512 of the main body 51, and the base 50 is fastened to the board 30 by a screw 1 in a way that a screw section 2 of the screw 1 is inserted through the through hole 517 and a head section 3 of the screw 1 is abutted on the bottom surface 512 of the main body 51.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the aforesaid buckling block 551 of the first buckling member 55 has a plurality of first positioning teeth 553, the first buckling member 55 is also provided inside the notch 552 thereof with a plurality of first positioning teeth 553, and the first positioning teeth 553 are aligned along the longitudinal axis L2. The aforesaid second buckling member 57 is provided inside the accommodating space 571 thereof with a plurality of second positioning teeth 573, the protrusion 572 of the second buckling member 57 also has a plurality of second positioning teeth 573 adjacent to the accommodating space 571, and the arrangement of the second positioning teeth 573 and the arrangement of the first positioning teeth 553 are staggered. In this way, every two adjacent boards 30 are connected by the bases 50 in a way that the first positioning teeth 553 and the second positioning teeth 573 are engaged with each other. Therefore, the floor assembly 10 of the present invention is effective in that two adjacent bases 50 are prevented from displacing relative to each other along the longitudinal axis L2, thereby conveniently assembled by the constructor and capable of improving the safety of the people walking on the floor assembly 10.
Specifically speaking, the buckling block 551 of the first buckling member 55 is primarily composed of an outer wall 554, a bottom wall 555 and an inner inclined wall 556. The bottom wall 555 of the first buckling member 55 has a through hole 557. The inner inclined wall 556 is located adjacent to the bottom surface 512 of the main body 51. The accommodating space 571 of the second buckling member 57 is primarily formed by an inner wall 574, a bottom wall 575 and an outer inclined wall 576. The bottom wall 575 of the second buckling member 57 has a through hole 577 corresponding in position to the through hole 557 of the bottom wall 555 of the first buckling member 55. The through holes 557 and 577 of two adjacent bases 50 communicate with each other. The inner wall 574 is located adjacent to the bottom surface 512 of the main body 51. The buckling block 551 of the first buckling member 55 is provided on the outsides of the outer wall 554, the bottom wall 555 and the inner inclined wall 556 thereof with a plurality of first positioning teeth 553 aligned along the longitudinal axis L2. The second buckling member 57 is provided on the insides of the inner wall 574, the bottom wall 575 and the outer inclined wall 576 thereof with a plurality of second positioning teeth 573, and the arrangement of the second positioning teeth 573 and the arrangement of the first positioning teeth 553 are staggered. The adjacent bases 50 are engaged with each other by the first positioning teeth 553 and the second positioning teeth 573 thereof. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 4-6, the buckling block 551 is provided at the juncture of the bottom wall 555 and the inner inclined wall 556 thereof with a round corner 558. In this way, when the constructor assembles the floor assembly by connecting two bases 50, the elevation angle of one of the bases 50 relative to the other base 50 can be reduced, and therefore the interval between the boards 30 is also reduced. Besides, the round corner 558 is helpful to guide the buckling block 551 into the accommodating space 571.
In the preferred embodiment of the floor assembly of the present invention, each of the boards 30 is provided on the bottom surface thereof with two sliding grooves 31. Each sliding groove 31 is composed of a narrow passage 311 and a wide inner trough 313. The narrow passage 311 and the wide inner trough 313 communicate with each other to form an accommodating room. Correspondingly, each of the bases 50 is provided on the top surface 511 of the main body 51 thereof with two positioning members 53, and each positioning member 53 is composed of a vertical section 531 and a horizontal section 533. An end of the vertical section 531 is connected to the top surface 511 of the main body 51. The other end of the vertical section 531 is connected to the horizontal section 533. The constructor can limit each board 30 not to displace relative to each base 50 along the transverse axis L1 by slidably disposing the vertical section 531 and the horizontal section 533 of each positioning member 53 in the narrow passage 311 and the wide inner trough 313 of the sliding groove 31 of each board 30 respectively. On the other hand, people not only walk straight but also make turns, and the torque of making turns will cause deviation to the boards 30. To overcome this deviation problem more effectively, the bottom surface of each board 30 in the present invention is further provided with a positioning groove, the top surface 511 of the main body 51 of each base 50 is provided with a positioning rib 518 corresponding in position to the positioning groove, and the positioning rib 518 is disposed in the positioning groove. As shown in FIG. 3, the positioning rib 518 is located between the two positioning members 53. Likewise, the positioning groove is located between the two sliding grooves 31. As a result, not only the connection between the positioning members 53 and the sliding grooves 31 can reduce the aforesaid deviation of the boards 30, the embedding relation between the positioning ribs 518 and the positioning grooves 33 is more effective in preventing the boards 30 from deviating on the bases 50.
It should be mentioned that as shown in FIG. 6, the floor assembly 10 of the present invention is usually configured in a way that a long board 30 is disposed on six bases 50 and a short board is disposed on three bases 50. In the practical process that the constructor assembles the floor assembly 10, the first line is composed of the long boards 30, and then the second line connected to one side of the first line is composed in a way that the first board 30 is the short board and the other boards are the long boards 30. Then, the third line is the same with the first line, composed of the long boards 30. The fourth line is the same with the second line. By laterally extending the floor assembly in such manner, the assembling process of the floor assembly will be accomplished. Through the above-mentioned arrangement, the long boards 30 and the short boards 30 can be limited not to displace or deviate along the transverse axis by the embedding relation between the bases 50. As a result, the floor assembly of the present invention has no such fastener as that used in the conventional floor assembly to be installed between two adjacent bases. Therefore, the constructor can assemble the floor assembly only by connecting the first buckling member of a base with the second buckling member of another base, so that the floor assembly is not only simplified in structure but also simplified in assembling process, thereby convenient in construction and stable in structure.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A floor assembly comprising;

a plurality of boards, each of the boards being provided on a bottom surface thereof with a sliding groove; and

a plurality of bases, each of the bases comprising a main body, a positioning member, a first buckling member and a second buckling member, which are formed integrally, the main body having a top surface, a bottom surface, a left side, a right side, a front surface and a rear surface, a transverse axis being defined to extend from the left side to the right side, a longitudinal axis being defined to extend from the front surface to the rear surface, the positioning member being located on the top surface of the main body and slidably disposed in the sliding groove of the board, the first buckling member being located at the left side of the main body and provided with a buckling block and a notch located between the top surface and the left side of the main body and concaved along the transverse axis, the second buckling member being located at the right side of the main body and provided with an open accommodating space and a protrusion located between the top surface and the right side of the main body and extended along the transverse axis, the adjacent bases are connected with each other in a way that the buckling block of the first buckling member is disposed in the accommodating space of the second buckling member and the protrusion of the second buckling member is embedded in the notch of the first buckling member.

2. The floor assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the buckling block of the first buckling member has a plurality of first positioning teeth aligned along the longitudinal axis; the second buckling member is provided inside the accommodating space thereof with a plurality of second positioning teeth; an arrangement of the second positioning teeth and an arrangement of the first positioning teeth are staggered; the adjacent bases are engaged with each other by the first positioning teeth and the second positioning teeth thereof.

3. The floor assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the notch of the first buckling member has a plurality of first positioning teeth aligned along the longitudinal axis; the protrusion of the second buckling member has a plurality of second positioning teeth adjacent to the accommodating space; an arrangement of the second positioning teeth and an arrangement of the first positioning teeth are staggered.

4. The floor assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom surface of the board is provided with a positioning groove; the top surface of the base is provided with a positioning rib corresponding in position to the positioning groove; the positioning rib is disposed in the positioning groove.

5. The floor assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the buckling block of the first buckling member comprises an outer wall, a bottom wall and an inner inclined wall adjacent to the bottom surface of the main body; the accommodating space of the second buckling member is formed by an inner wall adjacent to the bottom surface of the main body, a bottom wall and an outer inclined wall.

6. The floor assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the buckling block of the first buckling member is provided on outsides of the outer wall, the bottom wall and the inner inclined wall thereof with a plurality of first positioning teeth aligned along the longitudinal axis; the second buckling member is provided on insides of the inner wall, the bottom wall and the outer inclined wall thereof with a plurality of second positioning teeth; an arrangement of the second positioning teeth and an arrangement of the first positioning teeth are staggered; the adjacent bases are engaged with each other by the first positioning teeth and the second positioning teeth thereof.

7. The floor assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the buckling block is provided at a juncture of the bottom wall and the inner inclined wall thereof with a round corner.

8. The floor assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the bottom wall of the first buckling member has a through hole, and the bottom wall of the second buckling member has a through hole corresponding in position to the through hole of the bottom wall of the first buckling member.

9. The floor assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sliding groove of the board comprises a narrow passage and a wide inner trough communicating with the narrow passage; the positioning member comprises a vertical section and a horizontal section; an end of the vertical section is connected to the top surface of the main body; another end of the vertical section is connected to the horizontal section; the vertical section and the horizontal section of the positioning member are slidably disposed in the narrow passage and the wide inner trough of the sliding groove of the board respectively.

10. The floor assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base has a through hole penetrating through the top surface of the base and the bottom surface of the base.