Locking system and flooring board
A locking system for mechanical joining of floorboards. For horizontal mechanical joining there is a projecting portion with a locking element which cooperates with a locking groove in an adjacent board. A tongue-and-groove joint for vertical mechanical joining has cooperating upper abutment surfaces and cooperating lower abutment surfaces which are essentially parallel with the principal plane of the floorboards and of which the lower abutment surfaces are positioned essentially outside the outer vertical plane, i.e. displaced relative to the upper abutment surfaces. The tongue is movable at an angle into the groove and the locking element is insertable into the locking groove by mutual angular movement of the boards about the joint edges.
1. A rectangular floorboard, whose four sides are mechanically joinable with other substantially identical floorboards, and which along its opposite long edges have a locking system comprising a tongue-and-groove joint, the long edge tongue groove and long edge tongue of which have cooperating long edge upper abutment surfaces and cooperating long edge lower abutment surfaces for vertical locking of two long joint edges of two adjacent floorboards, said long edge upper and lower abutment surfaces being essentially parallel with the principal plane of the floorboards, and
said long edge locking system further comprising, for horizontal mechanical joining of the long joint edges perpendicular to the same, a long edge locking groove formed in the underside of a first one of the long joint edges and extended in parallel therewith, and a portion projecting from the second long joint edge and integrated with a body of the floorboard, said long edge projecting portion supporting, at a distance from the long joint edge, a long edge locking element cooperating with the long edge locking groove,
wherein said long edge tongue is anglable into the long edge tongue groove, and wherein the long edge locking element is insertable into the long edge locking groove by mutual angular motion of the boards about the long joint edges,
wherein, in the joined state, the cooperating long edge upper abutment surfaces are limited horizontally inwards from the long joint edge and horizontally outwards to the long joint edge by an inner vertical plane and an outer vertical plane, respectively;
wherein the long edge tongue-and-groove joint is so designed that there is in the long edge tongue groove, in the joined state, between the inner vertical plane and the outer vertical plane and below the long edge tongue, a space which extends horizontally from the inner vertical plane and at least halfway to the outer vertical plane;
wherein the long edge tongue-and-groove joint is further so designed that the boards, during a final phase of the inwards angling when the long edge locking element is inserted into the long edge locking groove, can take a position where there is a space in the long edge tongue groove between the inner and the outer vertical plane and below the long edge tongue; and
wherein the long edge lower abutment surfaces are positioned essentially outside the outer vertical plane,
wherein the long edge projecting portion is at least partially made in one piece with the body of the floorboard
wherein the floorboard along its opposing short edges comprise a short edge tongue-and-groove joint for joining opposing short joint edges of two adjacent floorboards relative to each other, perpendicular to the principal plane of the floorboard, and which, for mechanical joining of the short joint edges, perpendicular to the short joint edges comprises a short edge locking groove, which is formed in the underside of and extends at a distance from and in parallel with a first of said short joint edges, a portion projecting from the other short joint edge, said short edge projecting portion supporting, at a distance from the short joint edge, a short edge locking element which cooperates with said short edge locking groove,
wherein the long edge projecting portion, in the horizontal direction between the long edge lower abutment surfaces of the long edge tongue-and-groove joint on the one hand and the long edge locking element of the projecting portion on the other hand, has a lower portion which is positioned below said long edge lower abutment surfaces, and
wherein the long edge locking element is positioned under or on a level with the long edge lower abutment surface of the long edge tongue groove.
2. A floorboard as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said space in the joined state is horizontally extended below the long edge tongue essentially all the way from the inner vertical plane to the outer vertical plane, so that essentially no part of the long edge lower abutment surfaces is positioned inside the outer vertical plane.
3. A floorboard as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said space during the final phase of the inwards angling is horizontally extended below the long edge tongue essentially all the way from the inner vertical plane to the outer vertical plane.
4. A floorboard as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the long edge tongue groove in the joined state has an upper and a lower horizontal surface which constitute inwardly directed extensions of the long edge upper abutment surface and the long edge lower abutment surface, respectively, of the long edge tongue groove, and wherein there is in the joined state a horizontal play (Δ) between the bottom of the long edge tongue groove and the tip of the long edge tongue.
5. A floorboard as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the outer vertical plane is located at a horizontal distance inside a vertical joint plane, which is defined by adjoining upper portions of the joined long joint edges of the two boards.
6. A floorboard as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the long edge lower abutment surfaces are located at least partially outside a vertical joint plane which is defined by adjoining upper portions of the joined long joint edges of the two boards.
7. A floorboard as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the major part of the long edge lower abutment surfaces is positioned outside the long edge vertical joint plane.
8. A floorboard as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the long edge projecting portion and the long edge tongue groove are arranged in one and the same long joint edge of the floorboard.
9. A floorboard as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the long edge projecting portion is resilient transversely of the principal plane of the floorboards.
10. A floorboard as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the long edge tongue is insertable into the long edge tongue groove and the long edge locking element is insertable into the long edge locking groove by a mutual horizontal joining of the long joint edges of the boards.
11. A floorboard as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the long edge tongue is anglable into the long edge tongue groove and the long edge locking element is insertable into the long edge locking groove by said mutual angular motion of the boards about upper portions of the long joint edges while said upper portions are held in mutual contact.
12. A floorboard as claimed in claim 2 , wherein said space during the final phase of the inwards angling is horizontally extended below the long edge tongue essentially all the way from the inner vertical plane to the outer vertical plane.
13. A floorboard as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the long edge projecting portion is at least partially formed of a separate strip which is integrally connected with the board by being mounted in the factory.
14. A floorboard as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the long edge tongue groove has in its upper part a beveled portion for guiding the long edge tongue into the long edge tongue groove.