WO2002022988A1

WO2002022988A1 - Wooden flooring board with pre-attached joists/battens/screeds

Info

Publication number: WO2002022988A1
Application number: PCT/IB2001/000308
Authority: WO
Inventors: Narasimhamurthy Prakashkumar
Original assignee: Narasimhamurthy Prakashkumar
Priority date: 2000-09-12
Filing date: 2001-03-02
Publication date: 2002-03-21
Also published as: AU2001237663A1

Abstract

Manufacture of a Wooden flooring board with Pre-attached as a cheaper and more efficient alternative to any other type of wooden flooring board. The joists are pre-attached at pre-determined intervals to the lower surface of the board perpendicular to the length of the board. A compressible material is pre-attached to the bottom surface of the joist. Among the advantages of may invention are: a) elimination of the need for leveling the base floor; 2) elimination of the need for laying a new sub floor or a joist underlay; 3) elimination of the need for laying a sound barrier; 4) permanently prevents cupping of wooden flooring board; restricts contraction and expansion of wooden flooring board; reduces the cost, time and labour involved in installation of wooden flooring board; 7) achieves an enhanced aesthetic appearance of installed wooden flooring board especially of width greater than 3 inch.

Description

WOODEN FLOORING BOARD WITH PRE-ATTACHED JOISTS/BATTENS/SCREEDS

The invention claimed by me is the manufacture of WOODEN FLOORING BOARD WITH PRE-ATTACHED JOISTS/BATTENS/SCREEDS

Such a wooden flooring board means a wooden flooring board with joists/battens/screeds pre-attached to the lower surface of the wooden flooring board in a direction perpendicular to the length of the wooden flooring board at pre-determined intervals.

A complete appreciation of my invention and the scope thereof can be obtained from the following detailed below

Background to my invention

Description of my invention.

Accompanying drawings and brief description thereof.

Glossary of technical terms used in this text

My claims

Background to mv invention:

The main types of wooden flooring boards of length greater than 2 feet presently available are:

Description of wooden floor Width Thicknes i) Solid Plank Flooring > 3.5^M > 3/4" ii) Solid strip flooring < 3.5^M > 3/4" iii) Laminated Solid Plank Flooring 3.5^M to 5" < 3/4" iv) Laminated Flooring with Edge glued and

Butt jointed top layer of solid wood strips 5" to 8" < 3/4"

All the above mentioned types of wooden flooring boards are installed at site either as Unfinished or as Pre-finished.

Wooden flooring board of less than 2 feet in length is not relevant to my invention.

Unfinished wooden flooring boards:

This type of wooden flooring board requires further finishing after installation at site namely, filling of putty into any gaps, drum sanding, buff sanding, application of sealer and application of lacquer. Generally such installation is contracted to professional installers of wooden flooring boards. Pre-finished wooden flooring boards:

This type of wooden flooring board is finished at the manufacturer's factory and sold as ready to install DIY (do it yourself) requiring no further finishing at site. Generally such installation is done by the end users themselves in accordance with the installation guide provided by the manufacturer.

Machined Profile of the wooden flooring boards:

Traditionally all types of unfinished and pre-finished wooden flooring boards are machine profiled to form a Tongue along the one side of the entire length and the entire width of the board and also machine profiled to form a Groove along the other side of the entire length and entire width of the board. Such machined profiles enable the interlocking of adjacent wooden flooring boards when installed at site.

Common difficulties encountered during and after the installation of wooden flooring boards:

Leveling of base floor:

Generally the levels of most base floors are uneven. When wooden flooring boards are installed on such uneven base floors, it is inevitable that there is poor alignment between the joints of installed wooden flooring boards and also uneven level of the top surface of the installed wooden flooring boards. Hence the manufacturers of wooden flooring board usually recommend to professional installers or the end users to ensure that level variation in the base floor is within the parameter of +/- 1/8 inch in a radius of 8 feet of the installation area.

In practical terms it is not easy for the installer, whether a professional or an end user, to ensure compliance with this recommendation. In the event of wooden flooring boards being installed on base floors in a manner which does not comply with this recommendation, it will be difficult to rectify any errors of alignment or unevenness of the top surface of the wooden flooring boards detected after installation - more so when Portland Cement is used to level the base floor.

Control of humidity variations:

Atmospheric humidity varies : - a) From location to location in the same season. b) From season to season in the same location. c) Within a 24 hour day in a particular location.

Wood has a tendency to contract during periods of low humidity and expand during periods of high humidity. Contraction of wood results in gaps appearing between the joints of installed wooden flooring boards and may also result in cupping (refer drawing no.2 e). Expansion of wood may also result in cupping. Hence the manufacturers of wooden flooring boards usually recommend to professional installers and end users to ensure that the humidity in the installed area is maintained at between 40% to 60% consistently through out the usage of such installed wooden flooring boards.

Compliance with such recommendation on humidity control could be quite expensive.

Quality of the wooden flooring boards before installation:

Wooden flooring boards whether Pre-finished or Unfinished are generally well packed after manufacture and such packing is opened only at the time of commencement of installation at site. On opening the package at site, it is often found that the wooden flooring boards have cupped for the reasons of humidity variation mentioned in the earlier paragraph. Such cupping further aggravates the problem of poor alignment at joints and uneven level of top surface of the installed wooden flooring board mentioned earlier.

Expensive sub floor:

In an effort to overcome the difficulty in achieving an evenly leveled base floor and to restrict the degree of expansion and contraction of the installed wooden flooring board, especially Pre-finished floors, manufacturers usually recommend the laying of a sub floor covering the entire floor area, which is expensive and time and labour consuming.

Expensive sound barrier layer:

Generally all types of wooden flooring board require the laying of a sound barrier (usually a compressible material such as Cork, Neoprene, Expanded Plastic foam, Rubberized coir or similar compressible products) between the wooden flooring board and the base floor, covering the entire installed floor area to prevent the sound generated from usage of the wooden flooring board in one floor travelling to the lower level of the building. Such barrier also provides a soft and warm effect during usage of such flooring boards but will further add to the cost of installation.

Installation and Finishing of Unfinished wooden flooring boards:

The several stages of finishing at site referred earlier entail time and labour apart from generation of noise and dust.

Installation of Pre-finished wooden flooring boards:

Pre-finished wooden flooring boards are usually installed on DIY basis and it is often difficult for the layman / end user to comply with all the installation guidelines recommended by the manufacturer. Consequently Pre-finished wooden flooring board so installed often present a poor aesthetic appearance.

Present use of Joists/Battens /Screeds in the installation of wooden flooring boards:

In the absence of a sub floor, a joist underlay is used. A joist/batten/screed is one of several parallel timber sections laid on the base floor stretched on edge from wall to wall on to which the wooden flooring boards may be nailed. Joists/battens/screeds are presently used for installing wooden flooring boards greater than 2 feet in length. The dimension of the joist/batten/screed will depend on the manufacturer/installer/end user's choice. The Joist/batten/screed is normally fastened to the base floor by gluing and nailing.

The terms joist, screed and batten have one and the same meaning and serve a similar purpose in the installation of wooden flooring board.

Methods of installation suggested by the manufacturers of wooden flooring board:

Staple/nail/screw (hereinafter referred to as nailing)down installation:

Wooden flooring boards may be directly nailed onto the sub floor by either of two methods. a) The nail is driven from the top surface of the wooden flooring board (refer drawing no.2c) b) The nail is driven from a lateral surface of the wooden flooring board (refer drawing no.2d)

Method (a) results in nail holes being visible on the top surface requiring subsequent covering by putty thereby detracting from the aesthetic appearance of the top surface of the installed wooden flooring boards. However, such nailing across the width of the top surface of the wooden flooring boards provides support to such boards and thereby prevents cupping.

In method (b) the nail holes are not visible and the aesthetic appearance of the top surface of the installed wooden flooring board is retained. However, the benefit of support to the wooden flooring boards and the prevention of cupping of the boards mentioned in method (a) above is not available in the method (b).

In the absence of a sub floor, joists are laid onto the base floor generally at 1 feet intervals by gluing and nailing onto the base floor. The wooden flooring boards are thereafter installed onto such joist underlay (refer drawing no.2a and 2b) according to the nailing methods mentioned above.

Glue down installation:

Wooden flooring boards may be directly glued onto the sub floor. This method entails drying time during which the installed area needs to be held in position under even pressure from the top. Otherwise there Would result

(a) imperfect bonding of wooden flooring board to the sub floor and / or

(b) poor alignment of the joints and / or

(c) uneven level of the top surface of the installed wooden flooring board.

Floating floor installation:

The wooden flooring boards are merely glued together at all the joints allowing the installed flooring to "float". This method is recommended only for Pre- finished wooden flooring boards. While such method reduces the time and labor involved, there is a greater risk of cupping of wooden flooring boards. Current trends in the manufacture and installation of wooden flooring boards:

There is an increasing trend among the manufacturers of wooden flooring boards

To manufacture Pre-finished wooden flooring boards of wider dimension to enable speedier installation.

To encourage the floating floor installation in order to reduce the time and labour involved in installation.

To reduce the thickness of wooden flooring boards in order to cut down the cost of manufacture.

However, these trends may result in increased risk of cupping of installed wooden flooring boards.

Description of my invention:

I have invented a Wooden flooring board with Pre-attached joists/battens/screeds as a cheaper and more efficient alternative to any other type of wooden flooring board in terms of quick, easy and economical installation with guarantee against cupping before and after installation.

My invention involves the prior attachment of joists/battens/screeds to any type of wooden flooring board by glue lamination and nailing. The joists are pre-attached at predetermined intervals to the lower surface of the wooden flooring board in a direction perpendicular to the length of the wooden flooring board.

A compressible material such as Cork, Neoprene, Expanded Plastic foam, Rubberized coir or similar compressible material is pre-attached to the bottom surface of the joist by gluing so as to cover such surface area either fully or partially.

The wooden flooring board with pre-attached joist and compressible material is installed on the base floor without the need for leveling the base floor or laying a sub floor or joist underlay. The method of attachment of this wooden flooring board to the base floor may be either by "Nail down installation" or the "Floating floor installation" (refer page no.4) or a modified version of "Floating floor installation" (refer page no.10),

The advantages of my invention :-

1) Elimination of the need for leveling the base floor:

This is explained in drawings nos.5, 6, 7 and 8 and their respective descriptions.

2) Elimination of the need for laying a new sub floor or a joist underlay:

This is explained in drawing nos.2, 5 and 6 and their respective descriptions. 3) Elimination of the need for laying a sound barrier:

This is explained in drawing no.5 and 6 and their respective description.

4) Ensures permanent dimensional stability of the wooden flooring board as follows:-

The pre-attachment of joists to the wooden flooring board (refer drawing 4 and claim no.24) restricts contraction and expansion caused to the wooden flooring boards by atmospheric humidity variations thereby preventing a) Cupping of the wooden flooring boards after manufacture and also during their subsequent usage. b) The appearance of the gaps between the joints in the installed wooden flooring boards.

6) Reduces the cost, time and labour involved in installation of wooden flooring board:

As a result of items 1, 2 and 3 mentioned in the earlier paragraphs, the cost, time and labour involved in installation will be reduced substantially. Additionally the actual installation of the wooden flooring boards with pre-attached joist could be effected more easily and speedily than any other type of wooden flooring boards which will further enable a very large saving in cost, labour and time.

7) Achieves an enhanced aesthetic appearance of installed wooden flooring board especially of width greater than 3 inch:

Prior attachment of joists to the wooden flooring board at the factory by glue lamination and nailing from the lower surface will eliminate the need for nailing on the top surface thereby giving an enhanced aesthetic and elegant appearance to the wooden flooring board.

Brief description of accompanying drawings:-

Abbreviation used in accompanying drawings:

V, W, X, and Y - Wooden flooring boards with Tongue and Groove profile

A - Pre-attachable / pre-attached joist

AN, AW, AX and AY- Corresponding protruding sections of joists pre-attached to

N, W, X and Y

Z - Base floor or the sub floor(if already in existence)

SW - Solid wood

JW - Jointed wood

CW - Composite wood

1. - - - Top surface of the wooden flooring board or adjoining boards

2. Bottom surface of the wooden flooring board

3. - - - Top surface of the joist

4. Bottom surface of the joist

5. - - - Tongue profile on the wooden flooring board 6. Groove profile on the wooden flooring board

7. - Perpendicular cuts on joist

8. - Bored holes on the joist

9. - Nailing portion of the joist

10, - Compressible material

11 - Area of affixing by Gluing of joist (A)

12 - Point of nailing of joist (A)

13 - Area of interlocking of Tongue and Groove

14 - Surface area of the protruding sections of joists which snugly fit under the adjacent wooden flooring board

15 _ Presently used joist

16 - New two layered sub floor

17 - Hump in the base floor Z

18 - Depression in the base floor Z

19 - Portion of wooden flooring board removed during installation

20 _ Nail hole

21 - Point of application of pressure

22 - Area of gluing presently used joist (15)

23 - Point of nailing of presently used joist (15)

24 - Point of nailing wooden flooring board to presently used joist (15) or new sub floor (16)

Drawing no. 1:

Types of wooden flooring boards with Tongue (5) and Groove (6) profiles used in the manufacture of wooden flooring boards with pre-attached joists in accordance with my claim no. 7.

Drawing 1 a:

Wooden flooring board of solid wood (SW) of one single wood specie.

Drawing 1 b:

Wooden flooring board of jointed wood (JW) of one single wood specie.

Drawing 1 c:

Wooden flooring boards comprising of a) one or more laminated layers of solid wood and / or jointed wood and / or a mix thereof of a single wood specie b) one or more laminated layers of solid wood and / or jointed wood and / or a mix thereof of two or more wood species (The specie of wood is not indicated in drawings) c) one or more laminated layers one of which is of solid wood or jointed wood of a single wood specie, and the other layer or layers of composite wood (CW). Drawing no. 2:

Present method of laying the wooden flooring board on the joist (15) and new sub floor (16).

Drawing 2 a:

Laying the presently used joist (15) by gluing (22) and nailing (23) of such joist onto an uneven base floor (Z) and the consequent distortion of the levelness and alignment of the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1).

Drawing 2 b:

Effect on the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1) due to the laying of the presently used joist (15) by gluing (22) and nailing (23) such joist onto an evenly leveled base floor (Z) wherein the levelness and alignment of the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1) is not distorted.

Drawing 2 c:

Nailing (24) the wooden flooring boards onto the presently used joist (15) or new sub floor (16) which are laid onto a perfectly leveled base floor (Z). Nailing is from the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1) spread across the width of the each such wooden flooring board which results in the appearance of Nail hole (20) on the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1).

Drawing 2 d:

Nailing the wooden flooring boards onto a perfectly leveled base floor (Z) through the lateral face of each such wooden flooring boards onto joist (15) or new sub floor (16).

Drawing 2 e:

The distortion of shape (convex as shown in the drawing or concave type) across the width of the wooden flooring board is caused by atmospheric humidity variation in the case of the wooden flooring board which is nailed onto the presently used joist (15) or new sub floor (16) through its lateral face. Such distortion known as "cupping" is due to the lack of support across the width of the wooden flooring board explained in page no.4 under "Nailing down installation".

Drawing no.3:

Types of joists (A) with compressible material (10) glued and affixed (11) to their bottom surface (4).

Drawing 3 a:

Rectangular joist (A) of uniform thickness according to claim no.2a, claim no.15 and claim no.16.

Drawing 3 b:

Rectangular joist (A) according to claim 16 with cuts (7) which are equi-distant from both length ends of joist (A), cut from the top surface of the joist (3), perpendicular to the length of the joist (A). Both the perpendiculars cut (7) end 3 millimeter above the bottom surface of the joist (4). The 3 millimeter sections are the weak sections in the joist (A) which becomes flexible upon the impact of nailing onto nailing portion area (9) of the joist (A), without spreading such impact to the area of the joist (A) lying between two perpendicular cuts (7), The two areas lying between perpendicular cuts (7) and the length end of the joist (A) is referred as "Nailing portions" (9) according to claim no.19.

Drawing 3 c:

Rectangular joist (A) according to claim no.2a, claim no. 15 and claim no.17 and claim no. 18 with tapered ends where the tapering towards both length ends of the joist (A), are at 45 degree angle to the top surface of the joist (3). The points of tapering are just before the perpendicular cuts (7). In the case of upward movement of nailing portion (9) due to nailing impact (refer drawing 7), the top surface of the tapered nailing portion (9) will not rise beyond the level of the top surface of the joist (3).

Drawing no. 4:

Method of Pre-attaching the joist (A) to the wooden flooring board.

Drawing 4 a:

Shows the pre-attachment of three types of joists (A) having length greater than the width of the wooden flooring board according to claim no. 2a onto the bottom surface of the wooden flooring board (2) by gluing (11) and nailing (12).

Drawing 4 b:

Shows the pre-attachment of two types of the joists (A) having length equal to and lesser than the width of wooden flooring board respectively according to claim 2b, onto the bottom surface of wooden flooring board (2) by gluing (11) and nailing (12).

Drawing no. 5:

Present "Floating floor installation" of conventional wooden flooring boards.

Drawing 5 a:

Wooden flooring boards V, W, X and Y are shown installed by any of the installation methods referred to in page no.4 onto the base floor (Z) which is uneven. All the adjoining boards are interlocked at (13) by means of the corresponding Tongue (5) and Groove (6) and glued (11) at such interlocking (13). Such interlocked wooden flooring boards are allowed to "float" (without fixing) on the base floor (Z). When pressure (21) is applied at two points indicated with arrow on the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1), the alignment and levelness of the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1) is distorted, even so if the Compressible material (10) is glued and affixed to the base floor (Z) (not shown in the drawing)

Drawing 5 b:

Compressible material (10) is glued and affixed to the base floor (Z) which is uneven. A perfectly even new sub floor (16) is allowed "to float" (without fixing) on 10. V,W, X and Y are shown installed on the new sub floor (16). All the adjoining boards are interlocked at (13) by means of the corresponding Tongue (5) and Groove (6) and glued (11) at such interlocking (13). Such interlocked wooden flooring boards are allowed to "float" (without fixing) on the new sub floor (16). When pressure (21) is applied at two points indicated on the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1), the alignment and levelness of the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1) is not distorted. In this case there may be possibility of new sub floor (16) cupping after installation due to a) Atmospheric humidity variations b) The wider and longer dimensions. c) The unevenness in the level of base floor (Z), often despite considerable leveling of such base floor. thereby resulting in the distortion of alignment and levelness of the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1).

Drawing no. 6:

"Floating floor installation" of the wooden flooring boards with pre-attached joists.

Drawing 6 a and 6 b: According to claim no.28.

Drawing 6 a is a reverse view of installed top surface of the wooden flooring boards V, W, X and Y (1) and drawing 6 b its side view, wherein the wooden flooring boards V, W, X and Y along with their corresponding joists (A) with AV, AW, AX and AY are installed by using either the "Floating floor installation" referred in page no.4 or by a modified version of the "Floating floor installation "on the base floor (Z) which is uneven. This modified version involves installing the wooden flooring boards without the need for gluing along the area of interlocking (13) but instead only by nailing down the pre-attached joists of the wooden flooring boards at the periphery of the installed floor area (not shown in drawing) to (Z).

In my invention each wooden flooring board is firmly attached to the adjacent boards by the following methods. a) The interlocking of respective Tongue 5 and Groove 6 along the length of the boards 13, b) The interlocking of respective Tongue 5 and Groove 6 along the width of the boards 13 (not shown in drawings). c) The snug fitting of the protruding surface area of the joists (14) of one board under the bottom surface 2 of the adjacent board and vice versa.

Joining the adjacent boards in this manner enables: -

W to follow the level of V,

X to follow the level of V and W,

Y to follow the level of V, W, X and vice versa

Thereby V, W, X, Y have the virtual effect of being one single flooring board of uniform surface levelness. When pressure (21) is applied at two points indicated on the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1), the alignment and levelness of the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1) remain unaltered. This capability of one wooden flooring board to follow the level of the adjoining wooden flooring board (even on the base floor Z which is uneven) as described earlier is referred to as "self-leveling".

The joists (A) with AV, AW, AX and AY are each parallel to the widths of V, W, X and Y.

AV, AW, AX and AY when installed, form a type of sub floor, which although in sections, cover the entire width (or length) of the installed area continuously and also cover the entire length (or width) of the installed area at pre-determined intervals. The joists (A) with AV, AW, AX and AY have greater stability than any other type of sub floor against the atmospheric humidity variation due to the fact that they are of relatively smaller length and width and also due to their pre-attachment to the wooden flooring board by gluing and nailing.

Sound barrier 10 lies between joists (A) with AV, AW, AX and AY and the base floor (Z) which also provides softness and warmth to the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1).

Drawing no. 7:

"Nailing down installation" of wooden flooring board with pre-attached joists according to claim 29.

When the wooden flooring boards V, W, X and Y along with their corresponding joists (A) with AV, AW, AX and AY are installed by "Nailing down method" referred to in page no.4, the area of the nailing portion (9) in the joist (A) becomes flexible upon the impact of nailing and its reverse surface area will follow the contours of the base floor (Z) without distorting the alignment and levelness of the top surface of the wooden flooring boards (1) (also refer to drawing 3b and 3c and their respective descriptions).

Drawing no. 8:

Inherent economy and improved efficiency in the installation of wooden flooring board with pre-attached joists.

Drawing 8 a:

This drawing shows the reverse side of installed top surface of the wooden flooring boards V, W, X and Y (1) with pre-attached joists (A).

The aggregate of the surface area of the bottom of all the pre-attached joists (A) is not more than 30% Of the entire installed surface area of the wooden flooring boards V, W, X and Y. In consequence 70% of the surface area of the wooden flooring boards lies between the pre-attached joists and would therefore be unaffected by any unevenness (including extreme unevenness) of the base floor (Z),

Drawing 8 b and 8 c:

This drawing shows the side view of installed wooden flooring boards with pre-attached joists (A).

Accordingly, in the event of unevenness (including extreme unevenness eg. Hump 17 and depression 18) in the level of the base floor (Z), the adverse effect of such unevenness will be restricted to only 30% of the total installed surface area of the wooden flooring boards manufactured by my method as against 100% in regard to installation of conventional wooden flooring boards.

Even such potential unevenness within 30% of the installed area may be overcome in my method by shortening the length of the appropriate board or boards involving removal of portion (19) (including the joist pre-attached to it) so as to ensure that the said hump (17) and depressions (18) will fall between two adjoining pre-attached joists.

Glossary of technical terms used in this text:

Putty:

A semi solid chemical that hardens upon drying which is used to cover any surface defects, gaps or imperfections on wooden floor surface before finishing.

Sanding:

Cutting of wood with coarse abrasive cloth or paper.

Buffing:

Cutting of wood with soft abrasive cloth or paper.

Sealer:

A chemical, which may be translucent or transparent, used to fill up the porosity in the wooden surface.

Lacquer:

A chemical which is transparent, used to improve gloss on wood surface.

Glue lamination under pressure:

Joining of top surface one of material to the lower surface of another material with glue through application of pressure.

Composite wood:

An engineered wood such as Medium Density Fiber (MDF), Plywood, Particle board etc.

Jointed wood:

Wood made by any of the process of finger jointing, edge gluing or butt jointing pieces of solid wood, or a combination of such process.

Solid wood:

Wood that is neither mechanically jointed nor any composite form of wood.

Claims

CLAIM

1. Manufacture of wooden flooring board with pre-attached joists

/ screeds / battens or look alike joists / screeds / battens (hereinafter referred to as joists) wherein the joists are attached to the bottom surface of the wooden flooring board, at predetermined intervals, in a direction perpendicular to the length of the wooden flooring board, prior to the installation of such wooden flooring board at site.

2. The said wooden flooring board with pre-attached joists according to claim 1 will be of two types namely: - a) Wooden flooring board wherein the length of each said pre-attached joist is greater than the width of the said wooden flooring board. b) Wooden flooring board wherein the length of each said pre-attached joist is equal to or lesser than the width of the said wooden flooring board.

3. The purposes of pre-attaching the said joists to the wooden flooring board according to claim 2a are

Elimination of the need for leveling the base floor. Elimination of the need for laying a new sub floor or a joist underlay.

Elimination of the need for laying a sound barrier. Ensures permanent dimensional stability of the wooden flooring board and restricts contraction and expansion caused to the wooden flooring board by atmospheric humidity variations thereby preventing (1) cupping of the wooden flooring board after manufacture and also during subsequent usage and (2) appearance of gaps between the joints in the installed wooden flooring board. Reduces the cost, time and labour involved in the installation of the said wooden flooring board. Achieves enhanced aesthetic appearance of the installed wooden flooring board especially of width greater than 3 inches.

4. The purposes of pre-attaching the said joists to the wooden flooring board according to claim 2b are

Ensures permanent dimensional stability of the wooden flooring board and restricts contraction and expansion caused to the wooden flooring board by atmospheric humidity variations thereby preventing (1) cupping of the wooden flooring board after manufacture and also during subsequent usage and (2) appearance of gaps between the joints in the installed wooden flooring board. Reduces the cost, time and labour involved in the installation of the said wooden flooring board. Achieves enhanced aesthetic appearance of the installed wooden flooring board especially of width greater than 3 inches.

5. The terms joists, screeds and battens used in my claim have one and the same meaning and serve the same said purposes according to claim 3 and claim 4 in the said installation of the wooden flooring board and include such devices (by whatever term referred to) as may be pre-attached to the wooden flooring board prior to installation to serve any of the same said purposes according to claim 3 and claim 4.

6. The said joist according to claim 5 is made from solid wood and or solid jointed wood and/or wood composite and/or plastic and/or metal and/or a combination of such material.

7. The said wooden flooring board with pre-attached joists according to claim 1 may comprise any of the following a) Solid wood or jointed wood of a single wood specie. b) Laminated layers each of solid wood or jointed wood or a mix thereof of a single wood specie . c) Laminated layers each of solid wood or jointed wood or a mix thereof of more than one wood specie. d) Larninated layers one of which is of solid wood or jointed wood of a single wood specie, and the other layer or layers of composite wood.

8. The said wooden flooring board with pre-attached joists according to claim 7 is greater than 2 inches in width and greater than 2 feet in length with a uniform thickness of desired dimension.

9. The said wooden flooring board according to claim 8 is machine profiled to form a Tongue along one side of its entire length and a Groove along the other side of its entire length.

10. The said wooden flooring board according to claim 9 may be machine profiled to form a Tongue along one side of its entire width and a Groove along the other side of its entire width.

11. The said machine profiled Tongue and Groove of the said wooden flooring board according to claim 9 and claim 10 will have sufficiently close tolerance to ensure the perfect fit of the Tongues of a wooden flooring board into the corresponding Grooves of the adjoining wooden flooring board.

12. The surface of the said wooden flooring board according to claim 11 to which the said joist is pre-attached is known as the bottom surface of the wooden flooring board and the reverse side of the said wooden flooring board is known as the top surface of the wooden flooring board.

13. The surface of the said joist which is pre-attached to the said bottom surface of the wooden flooring board according to claim 12 is known as the top surface of the joist and its reverse side is known as the bottom surface of the joist.

14. The said joist according to claim 6 will have a width not greater than 3 inches and a thickness depending on the type of profile according to claim 15 mentioned below.

15. The said joist in claim 2a and claim 14 may be either

(a) rectangular with a uniform thickness or

(b) rectangular wherein the top surface of the joist tapers at an angle of 45 degrees on both length ends of the said joist.

16. In the case of a joist referred as (a) according to claim 15 there may be made two cuts on the said top surface of the joist each perpendicular to the length of the joist at points equi-distant from each of the length ends of the joist and such cuts will be of such depth as to end 3 millimeter above the said bottom surface of the joist.

17. In the case of a joist referred to as (b) according to claim 15 , there will be bored two holes at points equi-distant from each of the length ends of the joist on one lateral surface through to the other wherein the diameter of such holes ends 3 millimeter above the said bottom surface of the joist.

18. In the case of the said joist according to claim 17, there will be made on the top surface of the said joist two cuts pe endicular to the length of the said joist at such points and to such depths as will intersect the circumference of the said holes at their respective centers.

19. In the case of the said joists according to claim 16 and claim 18 the two areas on the top surface of the said joists between the said perpendicular cuts and the said length ends of the joists are known as nailing portions and the said nailing portions are flexible upon the impact of nailing thereof on to an uneven sub floor or base floor.

20. The top surface of the said joist according to claim 2b and claim 14 is glued and affixed according to claim 1 to the said bottom surface of the wooden flooring board according to claim 12 in such a way that the said joist does not protrude beyond either sides of the length of the said wooden flooring board.

21. The top surface of the joist according to claim 1 with or without the said peφendicular cuts and the said top surface of the joist according to claim 18 having the said perpendicular cuts is glued and affixed according to claim 1 to the bottom surface of the wooden flooring board according to claim 12 in such a way that the said joist protrudes equi-distant beyond each side of the length of the said wooden flooring board.

22. Pressure is applied to the bottom surface of the said joists after gluing and affixing of the said joists to the said wooden flooring board according to claim 1, claim 20 and claim 21, in order to ensure: -

(a) Strong bonding of the said joists to the said wooden flooring board

(b) Perfect flatness across the width of the said wooden flooring board.

(c) Parallelism of the said joists to the width of the said wooden flooring board.

23. While under the said pressure according to claim 22 metal nails or screws are driven from the said bottom surface of the joists through to the said bottom surface of the wooden flooring board to ensure that the said wooden flooring board remains perfectly flat during the drying process.

24. The structural strength of the said joists combined with the strength of glue according to claim 22 and the fastening of metal nails or screws according to claim 23 permanently ensures perfect flatness of the said wooden flooring board.

25. The said wooden flooring board with pre-attached joists according to claim 24 is level sanded on the top surface of the said wooden flooring board to a uniform thickness of desired dimension.

26. To the said bottom surface of the joists according to claim 25 is glued and affixed a compressible material such as Cork and /or Neoprene and / or Expanded Plastic foam and / or Rubberized coir and / or similar compressible material of a uniform thickness of desired dimension covering the said bottom surface of the joist either fully or partially.

27. The said wooden flooring board with pre-attached joists according to claim 26 is either pre-finished at factory and ready for installation at site or unfmished and requiring finishing at site.

28. When the said wooden flooring boards with the pre-attached joists according to claims 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 are installed at site a) The Tongue of one wooden flooring board will perfectly interlock with the Groove of the adjacent wooden flooring board b) The portion of the joists protruding beyond the width of one wooden flooring board will snugly fit under the adjacent wooden flooring board and vice versa.

The combined effect of (a) and (b) above will result in the perfect alignment and levelness of all the installed wooden flooring boards.

29. When the said wooden flooring boards with pre-attached joists according to claim 28 are installed at site, the reverse side of the said nailing portions of the joist which are flexible according to claim 19 will follow the contours of the uneven level of the sub floor (if already in existence) or base floor without disturbing the alignment and levelness of the installed top surface of the wooden flooring boards while firmly holding the installed wooden flooring boards together.

30. In the case of the said wooden flooring boards with pre-attached joists according to claim 20, claim 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27, when the said wooden flooring boards are installed and glue applied to their respective joints, such gluing of the joints will hold the adjacent wooden flooring boards together while retaining the alignment and levelness of the said top surface of the wooden flooring boards only if laid on a perfectly even sub floor or base floor.

31. The compressible material affixed according to claim 26 will act as a sound barrier between sub floor (if already in existence) or base floor and the said wooden flooring board with pre- attached joists and also provides a soft and warm effect during the usage of such installed wooden flooring board.