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

Definitions

• This invention relates to wood flooring and ore"particularly -to an improvedr-dimensionall stable wood flooring which is highly resistant to deterioration because of variations in humidity and temperature.
• the limited compressibility and expandability of the previously used gap filling materials have several disadvantages.
• One means of bounding expansion has been to ' limit the maximum width of the fillet to approximately one inch.
• Another means has been to orient the fillet with respect to the wood grain so that the surface adjacent to the gap is the flat grain face. It is known that dimensional changes transverse to the flat grain faces are less than for other grain orientations.
• a third way to control the amount of dimensional change is to use woods with inherent dimensional stability.
• Woods such as beech and gu wood have accordingly been avoided in the past because they are less dimensionally stable than other woods, such as oak and maple. Again, because of the limited elasticity of the previously used binding material in the gap, high shear stresses develop between fillets during expansion, requiring very rigid adhesive to prevent the fillet from breaking away from the subfloor. Each of these constraints imposed by the prior gap-filling materials adds considerably to the cost of the finished floor.
• an object of the present invention to provide dimensionally stable wood flooring having a highly compressible gap-filling material between the wood fillets, that is, a material which can be compressed to a small fraction of its unstressed thickness.
• Yet a further object is a gap filler for wood flooring for which the fillet surface adjacent to a gap is a mixed or flat grain.
• Still another object is a gap filler which permits wood flooring to be secured to a subfloor with a lower cost, less rigid and more tacky adhesive than before possible.
• further object of the-invention is a gapfilling material which allows the flooring to accommodate an irregular subfloor.
• Dimensionally stable wood flooring employs selected foam materials as the spacer between wood fillets to allow for fillet expansion.
• the expansion gaps between the individual fillets are filled with a highly compressible, synthetic foam material having substantially permanent flexibility and compressibility sufficient to accommodate changes in gap width due to expansion and contraction of the wood fillets.
• Each fillet is secured to a subfloor by means of an adhesive- hich holds the fillet substantially stationary as it undergoes cycles of expansion and contraction.
• the foam material which fills the gaps between fillets is a ' blend of chloroprene synthetic rubber, rosin esterified with pentaerythri-tol, an anti-oxidant and a foaming agent, bicarbonate of soda being the preferred foaming agent.
• the preferred adhesive for securing the fillets to the subfloor is a standard, rubber-based wood block adhesive.
• the gap-filling foam material is a preformed sheet adapted to fit into and fill the gaps.
• Preferred preformed sheets are neoprene and polyethylene foam and are adhered to the wood fillet.
• Fig. 1 is a partly exploded view of a preassembled wood flooring tile embodying the invention.
• Fig. 2 is an end elevation view of the installed flooring under the condition of extreme expansion.
• a representative flooring tile 10 has been partly exploded to show better an individual wood fillet 18.
• the wood grain runs along the length of the fillet 18 and the fillet is cut so that the edge grain surface is the wearing surface 20, that is, the lines 22 that demarcate the growth rings on the tree from which the fillets 18 are cut extend substantially between the upper and lower surfaces of each fillet.
• the lateral surfaces 24 of each fillet are the flat grain surfaces.
• wood fillet 18 need not have been cut so that the lateral surfaces 24 on each fillet are the flat grain surfaces.
• individual fillets made from dimensionally stable wood species can be up to two inches in width with a gap width between fillets no greater than that in floors having narrower fillets, e.g., gap widths in the range of 1/64 to 1/16 inch.
• gaps between adjacent fillets will be larger, up to approximately 1/8 inch, to accommodate the expected greater dimensional changes.
• foam layer 26 may be formed in place or it may be made of a preformed foam sheet bonded to the adjacent fillets.
• a suitable material for forming foam layer 26 in place is a blend of chloroprene synthetic rubber, esterified rosin, and an anti-oxidant as disclosed in U.S. Patent No.
• Foam layer 26 may also be cut from a preformed sheet of neoprene or polyethylene.
• a suitable neoprene is number 4>00 manufactured by Tenneco
• the fillets 18 are preassembled to form tiles with a gap of 1/64 inch to 1/8 inch between contiguous fillets.
• This gap width is generally sufficient to accommodate the maximum dimensional change in fillet width. With a gap width within this range, it has been found that the foam layer 26 continuously spans and substantially fills the gaps under all conditions of fillet expansion and contraction. This is particularly important in excluding dirt from the gaps under extreme contraction.
• the tile is secured to the subfloor 16 with an adhesive 28 that holds the fillets in place against the forces that develop during the dimensional changes due to temperature and humidity. Because foam layer 26 disposed between adjacent fillets 18 is highly compressible, the forces which develop between the individual fillets are not high. This permits the use of a less rigid and less costly adhesive 28 such as standard rubber-based wood block adhesive to secure the tiles to the subfloor. The use of a less rigid adhesive imparts a greater degree of flexibility to the tiles thereby permitting them to conform more readily to irregularities in the subfloor 16.
• the illustrated fillets 18a, 18b, and 18c are shown under the condition of maximum expansion as caused by high environmental temperature and humidity, for example. Note, however, that the gaps 30 still remain between adjacent fillets and the continuous foam layers 26 separate the fillets.
• Another advantage to be realized from the invention herein is the capability to construct stable floors of multiple fillets joined to form wide wooden planks, illustratively of seven inches in width, laid

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Floor Finish (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=25506742

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

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Family Cites Families (8)

• 1979
  • 1979-11-20 WO PCT/US1979/000998 patent/WO1980001089A1/en unknown
  • 1979-11-20 CA CA340,249A patent/CA1125984A/en not_active Expired
• 1980
  • 1980-06-04 EP EP19800900047 patent/EP0020689A1/de not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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