US-12624553-B2 - Floor panel and floor

Abstract

A floor panel includes a core provided with an upper and lower surface, and a first and second core flank at a first and second side of the core, respectively. The floor panel includes a first coupling part and a second coupling part provided at the first side and the second side of the core, respectively. Each of the coupling parts includes an inner side flank, an outer side flank, and an upper portion flank connecting the inner side flank to the outer side flank. A portion of the first core flank and an upper portion of the outer side flank of the second coupling part are inclined such that when the floor panel is coupled to an adjacently arranged further floor panel these upper portions lie against each other for the purpose of providing a locking in a vertical direction.

Inventors

• Antonio Giuseppe Perra

Assignees

• I4F LICENSING NV

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20240111

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A floor panel, comprising: a core provided with an upper surface, a lower surface, a first core flank at a first side of the core, and a second core flank at a second side of the core, wherein the first core flank comprises a first core flank upper portion that connects to the upper surface; a first coupling part and a second coupling part provided at the first side and the second side of the core, respectively; wherein the first coupling part comprises: a first tongue having a first inner side flank, a first outer side flank, and a first upper portion flank connecting the first inner side flank to the first outer side flank; a first bridging part connecting the first tongue to the core; wherein the second coupling part comprises: a second tongue having a second inner side flank, a second outer side flank, and a second upper portion flank connecting the second inner side flank to the second outer side flank, wherein the second outer side flank comprises a second outer side flank upper portion that connects to the upper surface; a second bridging part connecting the second tongue to the core; wherein the first inner side flank, the first bridging part, and the first core flank define a first groove and wherein the second inner side flank, the second bridging part, and the second core flank define a second groove; wherein the floor panel is configured to be coupled to an adjacently arranged further floor panel that is identical to said floor panel in such a manner that the first tongue of the floor panel is received in the second groove of the adjacently arranged further floor panel and that the second tongue of the adjacently arranged further floor panel is received in the first groove of the floor panel thereby providing a first locking in a first direction substantially parallel to the upper surface; wherein at least a part of the first core flank and at least a part of the second outer side flank are inclined such that when the floor panel is coupled to the adjacently arranged further floor panel these upper portions lie against each other for the purpose of providing a second locking in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the upper surface; wherein the first upper portion flank of the first tongue comprises a curved recess that connects, via a convex recess end, to the first inner side flank at a first angle (α) in between 90° and 150°, wherein the first inner side flank extends from the curved recess towards the first bridging part and towards the core.
2. 2 . The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein the second groove comprises a bulge that is shaped substantially complementarily to the curved recess and is configured such that it is received in the curved recess when the floor panel is coupled to the adjacently arranged further floor panel.
3. 3 . The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein the first inner side flank extends from the curved recess towards the first bridging part and towards the core at a second angle relative to a normal of the lower surface that is in between 0° and 45°.
4. 4 . The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein the inclined part of the second outer side flank upper portion of the second outer side flank comprises a first outer point that is arranged farthest away from a central part of the core in the first direction, and wherein the inclined part of the first core flank upper portion of the first core flank comprises an inner point, and a second outer point that is arranged farthest away from a central part of the core in a third direction, wherein the third direction is substantially opposite to the first direction; wherein the floor panel is configured such that when the second upper portion flank of the second tongue of the adjacently arranged further floor panel is arranged in the curved recess of the floor panel prior to coupling said floor panel to said adjacently arranged further floor panel and is moved in the first direction, the first outer point of the adjacently arranged further floor panel slides underneath the second outer point of the floor panel towards the inner point of the floor panel.
5. 5 . The floor panel according to claim 4 , wherein during the sliding movement of the first outer point of the adjacently arranged further floor panel towards the inner point of the floor panel, the second upper portion flank of the adjacently arranged further floor panel is guided by the first inner side flank of the floor panel, and wherein the floor panel is configured such that when the second upper portion flank of the second tongue of the adjacently arranged further floor panel is arranged in the curved recess of the floor panel just before or at the moment the second upper portion flank will be guided by the first inner side flank of the floor panel, the bulge of the adjacently arranged further floor panel is guided by the curved recess of the floor panel.
6. 6 . The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein the first outer side flank comprises a first locking element and the second core flank comprises a second locking element, wherein the first locking element and the second locking element are configured such that when the floor panel is coupled to the adjacently arranged further floor panel the first locking element of the floor panel cooperates with the second locking element of the adjacently arranged further floor panel for the purpose of providing a third locking in the second direction.
7. 7 . The floor panel according to claim 6 , wherein the second locking element extends in the second direction from a second locking element start part up to a second locking element end part; wherein the second inner side flank comprises a second inner side flank end at which the second inner side flank is coupled to the second upper portion flank; wherein the second locking element end part and the second inner side flank end are at a substantially equal distance to the upper surface; and/or wherein the second core flank further comprises an inclined sub second core flank arranged in between the lower surface and the second locking element start part and extending under a fifth angle relative to a normal of the lower surface, wherein the fifth angle is in between 0° and 60°.
8. 8 . The floor panel according to claim 7 , wherein the third angle is at least substantially equal to the second angle, or larger than the second angle by an angle in between 0° and 5°.
9. 9 . The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein the first core flank upper portion extends under a third angle relative to a normal of the lower surface and wherein the second outer side flank upper portion extends under a fourth angle relative to said normal of the lower surface, wherein both the third and fourth angles are in between 0° and 30°.
10. 10 . The floor panel according to claim 9 , wherein the third angle is at least substantially equal to the fourth angle, or larger than the fourth angle by an angle in between 0° and 5°.
11. 11 . The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein the lengths of the first core flank upper portion, the first inner side flank, the second inner side flank, and the second outer side flank upper portion are substantially equal.
12. 12 . The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein the first bridging part comprises at least a first bridging flank and a second bridging flank.
13. 13 . The floor panel according to claim 12 , wherein the first bridging flank is coupled with the first inner side flank and the second bridging flank, and wherein the second bridging flank is coupled with the first core flank.
14. 14 . The floor panel according to claim 12 , wherein the second upper portion flank comprises a first flank segment and a second flank segment, wherein the first flank segment is coupled with the second inner side flank and the second flank segment, and wherein the second flank segment is coupled with the second outer side flank.
15. 15 . The floor panel according to claim 12 , wherein the first bridging flank and the first flank segment are substantially flat and/or wherein the second bridging flank and the second flank segment are substantially flat.
16. 16 . The floor panel according to claim 12 , wherein the first bridging flank and the first flank segment are curved and/or wherein the second bridging flank and the second flank segment are curved.
17. 17 . The floor panel according to claim 12 , wherein the first bridging flank and the first flank segment are complementarily shaped and/or wherein the second bridging flank and the second flank segment are complementarily shaped.
18. 18 . The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein the curved recess occupies at most half of an entire surface of the first upper portion flank of the first upper tongue.
19. 19 . The floor panel according to claim 1 , wherein the first upper portion flank further comprises a bulge, a flat flank segment, or a bulge and a flat flank segment.
20. 20 . The floor panel according to claim 19 , wherein the second groove further comprises a recess and/or a substantially flat flank segment.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/639,380, filed Mar. 1, 2022, which is the United States national phase application of International Application No. PCT/NL2019/050581, filed Sep. 6, 2019, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a floor panel and to a floor. In particular, the present invention relates to a laminated floor panel. The present invention particularly relates to floor panel that comprises coupling structures to enable a so-called tongue and groove coupling with an adjacently arranged identical floor panel. Description of Related Art An example of such a floor panel is known from EP3031998B1. The known floor panel comprises a core that is provided with an upper surface, a lower surface, a first core flank at a first side of the core, and a second core flank at a second side of the core. The first core flank comprises a first core flank upper portion that connects to the upper surface. The known floor panel further comprises a first coupling part and a second coupling part provided at the first side and the second side of the core, respectively. The first coupling part of the known floor panel comprises a first tongue having a first inner side flank, a first outer side flank, and a first upper portion flank connecting the first inner side flank to the first outer side flank. The first coupling part further comprises a first bridging part connecting the first tongue to the core. Similarly, the second coupling part of the known floor panel comprises a second tongue having a second inner side flank, a second outer side flank, and a second upper portion flank connecting the second inner side flank to the second outer side flank, wherein the second outer side flank comprises a second outer side flank upper portion that connects to the upper surface. The second coupling part further comprises a second bridging part connecting the second tongue to the core. The first inner side flank, the first bridging part, and the first core flank define a first groove and the second inner side flank, the second bridging part, and the second core flank define a second groove. The known floor panel is configured to be coupled to an adjacently arranged further floor panel that is identical to said floor panel in such a manner that the first tongue of the floor panel is received in the second groove of the adjacently arranged further floor panel and that the second tongue of the adjacently arranged further floor panel is received in the first groove of the floor panel thereby providing a first locking in a first direction substantially parallel to the upper surface. Here, the first direction typically corresponds to a horizontal direction. Conventional floor panels, such as the known floor panel described above, are not without drawbacks. For example, a user needs to exert a certain amount of force to enable the coupling between a floor panel and an adjacently arranged floor panel. More in particular, the amount of coupling force that exists between adjacent floor panels is related to the force required by the user to couple these floor panels. Put differently, if floor panels can be easily coupled they may also be more likely to detach from each other under the influence of heat and/or humidity. Such detachment or loosening may result in the familiar problems of these types of floor panels, such as floor panels forming a bulge, or grooves between adjacent floor panel becoming too large. In the art, focus has therefore been on realizing strong coupling forces between adjacent floor panels. For example, in the known floor panel described above, a locking element in the form of a protruding bulge on the first outer side flank is used that is configured to cooperate with a recess in the second core flank of an adjacently arranged floor panel. When trying to couple adjacent floor panels, a risk exists in that by applying the force required to couple the floor panels, delicate structures of these floor panels may get damaged. When a floor panel gets damaged, the coupling with other floor panels and/or the optical appearance of the floor panel may deteriorate. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a floor panel in which the abovementioned problems do not occur or at least to a lesser extent. According to the present invention, this object is achieved with the floor panel that is characterized in that at least a part of the first core flank upper portion of the first core flank and at least a part of the second outer side flank upper portion of the second outer side flank are inclined such that when the floor panel is coupled to the adjacently arranged further floor panel these upper portions lie against each other for the purpose of providing a second locking in a second dire