US3520761A - Floor covering - Google Patents

Description

July 14, 1970 w. ALLMAN 3,520,161

FLOOR COVERING Filed July 31, 196' INVENTOR. C YRIL J. .ALLMAN United States Patent O ,MICO

3,520,761 FLOOR COVERING Cyril Joseph Allman, Surrey, England, assignor to BTR Industries Limited, London, England, a British com- Filed July 31, 1967, Ser. No. 657,396 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Aug. 4, 1966, 35,000/ 66 Int. Cl. B32!) 1/ 04 US. Cl. 16144 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Floor covering comprising an elongated sheet of elastomeric material having a ridge extending along one margin and a rib with a recess in the lower surface extending along the opposite margin, the recess and ridge being of complementary shape and dimension so that sheets of like nature can be united transversely by interfitting the marginal ribs and ridges.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Floor coverings formed of elastomeric material, for example, synthetic plastic such as plasticized polyvinyl chloride, are frequently produced in the form of elongated strips of relatively narrow width, such coverings being employed as carpet runners, matting and for other purposes. It is, however, frequently desirable to transversely unite such relatively narrow strips or sheets to cover areas of greater width. This has presented difiiculties with conventional constructions in that the sheets generally have no means of interconnection so that each must be tacked or otherwise adhered to an underlying surface or provided with overlapping tapes, strips or other joining means. These conventional modes of uniting adjacent strips or sheets of floor covering are not generally satisfactory since the region of union is frequently such that moisture and other foreign materials can pass therebetween and/ or overlying strips at the joints prevent securing the appearance of a single continuous expanse of the material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the above-described defects by providing an improved floor covering configuration which is so made that like portions of the material may be joined in transverse relationship such that the individual strips or sheets are retained against lateral displacement, moisture and other foreign material are prevented from penetrating through the region of union, and the appearance of a single continuous expanse of the joined sheets or strips is provided. These advantages are achieved in the construction of this invention by having the floor covering provided with a continuous rib extending continuously longitudinally along one margin and a ridge extending longitudinally along the opposite margin with said rib having a recess on its underside of shape and dimensions complementary to those of the said ridge so that separate sheets or strips of the material can be placed in juxtaposed interfitting relationship of the ribs and ridges of the several sheets.

Preferably, the lower outer surface of the rib adjacent the edge of each sheet terminates above the lower surface of the said sheet a distance equal to the thickness of that sheet. Furthermore, the sheet in its presently preferred form comprises a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs generally inverted V-shaped in cross section each of which has an inner recess of inverted V- shape in cross section and with the longitudinal distance from the vertical center plane of the marginal ridge to the vertical median plane of the adjacent rib equal to 3,520,761 Patented July 14, 1970 the spacing of the latter from the vertical median plane of the next adjacent rib so that the region of union of adjacent ribs does not interrupt the pattern of the surface of the sheet material.

Other novel features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the presently preferred embodiment described with reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a fragmentary isometric view of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary transverse cross section to an enlarged scale through a sheet of the material shown in FIG. 1 illustrating the interlock of that sheet or strip with adjacent sheets or strips which are indicated by dotdash lines.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Floor covering made in accordance with the presently preferred embodiment of this invention comprises a sheet of elastomeric material which is extruded or rolled into elongated configuration with interlocking complementarily shaped surfaces adjacent either longitudinally extending edge. As shown in FIG. 1, such a sheet 10 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending raised ribs 11 spaced transversely from one another. These ribs are of inverted V-shape in cross section with their apices flattened. The lower or inner sides of the ribs preferably have channels 12 of inverted V-shape configuration formed on the underside of the sheet.

One longitudinally extending margin or edge of the sheet 10 is provided with a raised ridge 14 having an upper surface shaped to interfit with the recesses 12 of the ribs 11 and with the vertical central plane of the ridge spaced from the vertical central plane of the adjacent recess 12 an amount equal to the spacing of the latter from the next adjacent recess 12. The longitudinally extending marginal portion of the sheet 10 opposite that provided with the ridge 14 has a longitudinally extending rib the outer sidewall 16 of which terminates above the base of the sheet 10 a distance equal to the thickness of that sheet. This marginal rib has a recess 15 identical with the recesses 12 except for the aforementioned shortened length of its outer sidewall.

The manner of employing the floor covering material of this invention in transversely united relationship of separate sheets or strips thereof is apparent from FIG. 2. As shown therein, the ridge 14 of one length of the floor covering is disposed within the recess 15 of the marginal rib extending along the edge of an adjacent sheet, shown in phantom to the left of the principal sheet in FIG. 2, and the marginal rib 11 opposite the ridge 14 is placed in superposed interfitting relationship of its recess 15 with the ridge 14 on the next adjacent sheet of material as shown to the right of FIG. 2. This interlocking of adjacent strips or sheets can continue indefinitely to provide a transversely continuous sheet of any desired width from separately formed narrower strips or sheets and with the entire transverse expanse retained against inadvertent separation by the interlocking action of the interfitting ridges and recesses. Displacement of the interlocked sheets can be further enhanced by the application of an adhesive to the ridges 14 and the adjacent inner surfaces of the recesses or channels 15.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown as having the entire transverse width of the sheet 10 provided with equally spaced longitudinally extending ribs 11. It will be apparent that when this construction is employed a strip of lesser width can be readily formed from a wider strip and the same interlocking relationship with adjacent strips achieved by severing the material of the sheet along the wall of a rib 11 at an elevation above the base equal to the thickness of the base so as to provide an outer rib with shortened wall in the form shown at the right-hand margin of FIG. 1. The advantage of the interlocking relationship of the new floor covering may, however, be achieved without forming the entire transverse width of the strip with uniformly spaced ribs as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it being noted that the improved interlocking provided by this invention can be achieved with material in which the ridge adjacent one marginal edge and the rib adjacent the opposite margin for cooperation with a ridge on an adjacent sheet constitute the only projections from the base of the sheet so that the intervening transverse area is planar or provided with any desired pattern.

The fioor covering of this invention may be formed from any suitable material, preferably elastomeric in nature, with plasticized polyvinyl chloride being one specific example of material which lends itself readily to rapid economic production of the flooring through extrusion or roller die forming of the material with the interlocking ridge and rib construction. It will be apparent that the invention is not limited to the use of plasticized polyvinyl chloride nor to the other details of the preferred embodiment and that adaptations or modifications of the invention may be made within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A floor covering comprising an elongated sheet of elastomeric material having portions thereof defining generally parallel planar surfaces one of which will lie flat upon a planar floor, a continuous rib projecting outwardly from the other of said surfaces of the sheet and extending longitudinally therealong at one margin thereof,

and a ridge extending longitudinally along the said other surface at the opposite margin, said rib being generally inverted V-shaped in cross section with a flattened apex and having an inner recess inverted V-shape in cross section, the said ridge being inverted V-shape in cross section with dimensions complementary to those of said recess and with the outer side surface extending as a smooth inclined plane to the said one surface of the sheet, and the outer wall of said rib terminating coplanar with the said other surface of the sheet, whereby adjacent sheets of like nature may have the ridge on one interfitted within the recess beneath the rib on the adjacent sheet to provide a plurality of interconnected sheets which lie fiat upon a planar floor and have the appearance of a single continuous sheet.

2. A floor covering as defined in claim 1 wherein the said sheet is provided with a plurality of ribs extending parallel with the horizontal distance between the central vertical plane of said ridge and the vertical median plane of the adjacent rib equal to the spacing of the latter from the vertical median plane of the next adjacent rib.

3. 'Floor covering as defined in claim 1 wherein the thickness of the walls of said ribs is equal to the thickness of the sheet between said ribs.

4. Floor covering as defined in claim 1 wherein the said sheet is formed entirely of plasticized polyvinyl chloride.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 24,613 3/1959 Hageltorn 161--99 DOUGLAS I. DRUMMOND, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 161-149

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