Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04F—FINISHING WORK ON BUILDINGS, e.g. STAIRS, FLOORS
  • E04F15/00—Flooring
  • E04F15/02—Flooring or floor layers composed of a number of similar elements
  • E04F15/04—Flooring or floor layers composed of a number of similar elements only of wood or with a top layer of wood, e.g. with wooden or metal connecting members
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04F—FINISHING WORK ON BUILDINGS, e.g. STAIRS, FLOORS
  • E04F2201/00—Joining sheets or plates or panels
  • E04F2201/05—Separate connectors or inserts, e.g. pegs, pins, keys or strips

Definitions

• the invention relates to a method for manufacturing a parquet element comprising at least two sides with a tongue on the first side and a groove on the second side.
• the invention further relates to a parquet element comprising one or more structural layers made at least mainly of wood, a first side with a tongue arranged thereto, and a second side with a groove arranged thereto, the tongue and groove being shaped so that the parquet element is joinable with adjacent parquet elements.
• Parquet elements or boards are made of either solid wood or laminated wood in such a manner, for instance, that in a boarded parquet block, there is hardwood on the wear surface of the space to be sheeted and below it, there is a softwood frame or the like and possibly other functional layers.
• a parquet element is generally rectangular in shape and has a tongue on the first long side and a groove on the opposite side. The short sides, i.e. ends, often also have tongues and grooves: the first end has a tongue and the opposite end a groove. So as to prevent the building elements from moving relative to each other, the tongues and grooves must be locked to each other in some manner.
• glue is spread on either the tongue or the groove during the installation of building boards, and after the glue is hardened, it locks the elements together.
• Glue-free tongue-and-groove joints or locking tongue- and-groove joints are also known, in which the tongue and groove are shaped in such a manner that when joined, they lock mechanically to each other and glue is not necessarily needed.
• the tongues and grooves of parquet elements of laminated wood are in most cases arranged to a support layer, i.e. intermediate slat layer, under the wear surface.
• a support layer i.e. intermediate slat layer
• This is typically made of softwood slats or laths glued together, the fibre direction thereof being perpendicular to the fibre direction of the wear surface.
• the structure layer, to which the tongue or groove is at least mainly formed - the fibre direction is parallel to said side. For instance, in the case of a rectangular parquet element, this is the case at the ends of the parquet element.
• the strength of the tongue or groove is quite poor.
• wood material splits or breaks along the fibres essentially easier than in other directions.
• the projection of the tongue in particular breaks easily either already before the delivery of the parquet element to the installation site, for instance when the tongue is being machined, or when the parquet element is being installed. This causes quality costs that are unnecessary per se.
• the strength of plywood cannot be utilized, if the parquet element must be cut at the softwood slat.
• plywood is relatively expensive, so this is not an economic solution.
• a plywood slat behaves differently from a softwood slat as environmental factors, such as moisture or temperature, change. This may cause reflection in the plywood slat or differences in height in the parquet floor.
• the method of the invention is characterized in that the method comprises: manufacturing a tongue-and-groove blank, arranging a reinforcing element into the tongue-and-groove blank, machining a tongue or groove to the blank so that the reinforcing element forms a part of the tongue or groove.
• the parquet element of the invention is characterized in that the tongue or groove is formed of one or more of said structural layers and that at least one element reinforcing the tongue or groove is arranged to the tongue or groove.
• the invention provides the advantage that a strong and durable tongue-and-groove structure is achieved at a low cost even on the side of the parquet element, in which the fibres of the tongue or groove are mainly parallel to said side.
• a further advantage is that the support frame of the parquet element is in material and structure substantially uniform down to the tongues and grooves so that the parquet element is stable even when envi- ronmental factors change.
• a yet further advantage is that due to the reinforcing element, the size of the tongue or groove can be reduced without the strength of the tongue or groove suffering from it.
• installing the reinforcing elements in the parquet element is quite simple even at the installation site, which is why the parquet element can be cut at any point and reinforcing elements installed in the cut surface.
• the reinforcing element is a wooden dowel pin.
• the advantage is that the wooden dowel pin is a generally used component that is readily available at a very low price.
• Figure 1 is a schematic view of a detail of a parquet element of the invention in perspective
• Figure 2a is a schematic end view of a reinforcing element of the parquet element of the invention
• Figure 2b is a schematic cross-sectional view of a detail of a parquet element blank for manufacturing a parquet element of the invention.
• Figure 2c is a schematic cross-sectional view of a detail of a parquet element manufactured from the blank of Figure 2b.
• Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a parquet element of the invention.
• the parquet element 1 in question has a three-layered structure. Topmost is a wear surface 2 made of wood, which is installed toward the room space, i.e. away from the subfloor.
• the wear surface 2 can be surface treated with varnish, oil, or the like.
• the parquet element further comprises an intermediate slat layer 3 below the wear surface 2, and a bottom slat layer 4, which together form a support layer of the boarded parquet block.
• the layers 2 to 4 are typically made of wood and fastened to each other with glue.
• the wear surface 2 usually has one, two, or three surface strips arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction of the parquet element 1.
• the intermediate slat layer 3 is formed of wooden slats fastened, typically glued, to each other and made generally of softwood.
• the bottom slat layer 4 is generally also made of softwood slats or wood veneer glued together.
• the main wood fibre direction of the intermediate slat layer 3, i.e. the fibre direction, is generally substantially perpendicular to the fibre direction of the wear layer
• a boarded parquet block can have other functional layers, such as sound-insulating layers.
• the intermediate slat layer 3 can also be made of board material made mainly of wood, such as MDF (medium-density fibre board), HDF (high-density fibre board), or OSB (oriented strand board) material, chipboard, or any other corresponding material known per se.
• board material made mainly of wood, such as MDF (medium-density fibre board), HDF (high-density fibre board), or OSB (oriented strand board) material, chipboard, or any other corresponding material known per se.
• the parquet element 1 can also have some other structure: it can for instance have more than three structural layers.
• the parquet element 1 can have only one support layer in addition to the wear surface.
• a solid-wood parquet only has one layer which functionally serves as both the wear surface and support layer.
• the main direction of the wood fibre on the wear surface 2 can be perpendicular to the surface of the parquet element, etc.
• the parquet element 1 is rectangular in shape, in which case it has two longer sides and two shorter sides, i.e. ends. All the sides of the parquet element 1 can naturally also be equally long.
• tongues and grooves are formed for joining adjacent boarded parquet blocks together.
• the first side has a tongue 8a and the second side has a groove 9.
• the tongue and groove 8a and 9 are naturally designed so that the tongue 8a of the parquet element fits into the groove 9 of a corresponding parquet element to be fastened to its side and that the groove 9 matches the tongue 8a of a corresponding parquet element to be fastened to its side.
• a second tongue 8b is arranged to the first end 11 of the parquet element 1 and, correspondingly, a second groove that matches the second tongue 8b is arranged to the other end. It should be noted that the other end or the other groove is not shown in the figure.
• the tongues and grooves 8a, 8b, 9 of the parquet element 1 are formed mainly of the intermediate slat layer 3, and, thus, the projection 12 of the second tongue 8b, for in- stance, is made of the intermediate slat layer 3.
• the tongues and grooves 8a, 8b, 9 can naturally be formed of some other structural layer of the parquet element 1 instead of the intermediate slat layer.
• the tongues and grooves, for instance the tongue 8b, at the ends of the parquet element can have the same profile as the tongues and grooves at the sides, or the profiles can be different.
• the tongue-and-groove joint between the parquet elements 1 can be either glued or glue-free, i.e. a locking joint.
• the main fibre direction of the wood material of the intermediate slat layer 3 is congruent with the end of the parquet element 1.
• Reinforcing elements 10, later referred to as 'element' are fastened to the tongue 8b of the parquet element 1 end.
• the elements 10 are substantially narrower than the end 11 and they are arranged at a distance from each other.
• the manufacturing material of the elements is solid wood or plywood, for instance.
• the element 10 can also be made of plastic or of a fibreglass-reinforced plastic composite, for instance.
• the element 10 is arranged to the tongue 8b in such a manner that the main fibre direction of the element 10 is substantially perpendicular to the fibre direction of the intermediate slat layer 3 - and thus parallel to the fibre direction of the surface strips.
• the elements 10 are fastened to a recess or notch made into the intermediate slat layer 3 for instance by gluing or simply crimping.
• the elements 10 shown in Figure 1 are rectangular in cross- section, but this is naturally not necessary, and the cross-section of the elements can be in the shape of the cross-section of another polyhedron, round, or the like.
• the elements 10 increase substantially the strength of the projection 12 and the entire tongue, because the fibre direction of the element 10 is perpendicular to the fibre direction of the tongue.
• the distances between the elements 10 and the dimensions of the elements are selected to achieve the desired reinforcement effect.
• the elements 10 can also, or only, be arranged on the long side of the parquet element 1.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic end view of a reinforcing element of the parquet element of the invention
• Figure 2b shows schematically a detail of a blank of a parquet element with reinforcing elements of Figure 2a arranged thereto
• Figure 2c is a schematic cross-sectional view of a detail of a parquet element manufactured from the blank of Figure 2b.
• the cross-section of the element 10 is substantially round.
• the element 10 is in shape a round cylinder with the edges of both ends bevelled. The bevelling of the ends is, however, not necessary.
• the element 10 shown in Figures 2a to 2c is preferably a wooden dowel pin that is a joining means known per se in the furniture industry, for instance, where it is used to support the joint between two joined parts, and, when glued, also as a fastening element.
• the wooden dowel pin is inexpensive and available in several different sizes.
• the surface of the wooden dowel pin generally comprises longitudinal grooves that are not shown in the figures to simplify the presentation.
• the wooden dowel pin is made of wood so that the fibre direction of wood is substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the wooden dowel pin.
• cylindrical element 10 can naturally also be an element manufactured specifically for the present invention.
• the parquet element 1 of the invention can be manufactured for instance as follows: the wear surface 2, intermediate slat layer 3, and bottom slat layer 4 are fastened together in a manner known per se, for instance by gluing. At the same time, or after this, a tongue-and-groove blank 13 is made.
• the tongue-and-groove blank refers herein to the side of the parquet element 1 , or a part thereof, on which a tongue or groove will be made.
• the tongue-and-groove blank 13 can be made at the parquet element factory when the parquet element 1 is manufactured or at a later stage - even at the installation site of the parquet floor. The tongue-and-groove blank 13 can thus, if necessary, be formed by cutting the parquet element 1 at any point.
• Fastening elements for the elements 10 are made to the tongue-and-groove blank 13.
• the fastening elements are now a recess 14 that is for instance drilled or milled to the intermediate slat layer 3.
• the elements 10 are fastened to the recesses 14, see Figure 2b.
• the elements 10 are fastened for instance by gluing or mechanically simply by means of an interference fit, for instance.
• a tongue or groove is made to one edge of the blank by machining the extra material from the blank.
• a tongue is machined to the edge, and during the making of the tongue, the material removed from the tongue-and-groove blank 13 is marked by a dashed line in Figure 2c.
• the tongue is machined by sawing, milling, or by some other method known per se.

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8566228

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (2)

Cited By (9)

Citations (4)

• 2003
  • 2003-06-10 FI FI20030865A patent/FI118846B/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2004
  • 2004-06-08 WO PCT/FI2004/000351 patent/WO2004108373A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (4)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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