Releasable joining system for floor panels, a floor panel, a floor system, a method for laying and a method for releasing a floor panel

Abstract

A joining system for floor panels includes a female coupling formed in a first floor panel and a male coupling formed in a second floor panel. The female coupling includes a female coupling recess arranged on a female coupling tongue protruding away from a main portion of the first panel towards the adjoining second floor panel. The female coupling recess is adapted to receive a male coupling tongue projecting from the adjoining second floor panel in a direction away from a main floor surface plane in which the floor panels are laid. The female coupling further includes an upper guiding surface located on a side of the female coupling recess on the first panel forming a guide for the male coupling tongue upon insertion thereof.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fold-down joining system for floor panels, comprising a fold-down female coupling formed in one piece with a first floor panel and a fold-down male coupling formed in a second floor panel, the fold-down female coupling comprising:
 a female coupling recess being arranged on a female coupling tongue protruding away from a main portion of the first floor panel towards the adjoining second floor panel, the female coupling recess being adapted to receive a male coupling tongue projecting from the adjoining second floor panel in a direction away from a main floor surface plane in which the floor panels are laid, the fold-down female coupling further comprises an upper guiding surface being located on a side of the female coupling recess on the first floor panel forming a guide for the male coupling tongue upon insertion thereof, limiting movement of said male coupling tongue in a horizontal direction towards the main portion of the first floor panel;   the fold-down male coupling comprising:   the male coupling tongue formed in one piece in the second floor panel, the fold-down male coupling being provided with vertical locking means enabling a vertical interlocking engagement with a matching one piece vertical locking means of the fold-down female coupling, wherein   the female coupling tongue is resilient and comprises a distally arranged locking protrusion protruding from the female coupling tongue in a direction towards the main floor surface plane and being arranged to be received in a groove in the second floor panel for horizontal locking of the panels, wherein the locking protrusion is configured to come into contact with the male coupling tongue during joining of the first and second floor panels,   the fold-down joining system being configured for release by sliding the two panels in a longitudinal direction of the joining system in relation to one another or by pivoting the second floor panel in relation to the first floor panel, wherein the fold-down joining system further comprises:   an inclined abutment surface provided on the male coupling tongue for abutment with the locking protrusion of the female coupling tongue, or   an inclined abutment surface provided on the locking protrusion of the female coupling tongue for abutment against the male coupling tongue;   wherein the male coupling tongue has a protrusion length, measured from a bottom surface of the male coupling tongue to the upper surface of the groove in the second floor panel, of between 10% to 40% of a thickness of the second floor panel.   
     
     
         2 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 1 , wherein the female coupling tongue comprises a lower recess, enabling the locking protrusion of the female coupling tongue to be depressed during joining of the panels the lower recess extends from a distal surface of the female coupling tongue, the lower recess having a greater extension than the width of the locking protrusion. 
     
     
         3 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 2 , wherein the lower recess extends on the underside of the female coupling tongue a distance, from a distal surface thereof between 60% to 90% of the length of the female coupling tongue as measured from the distal surface. 
     
     
         4 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 1 , wherein the inclined abutment surface on the male coupling tongue is arranged at an angle in relation to a plane parallel with the main floor surface plane, wherein the angle of the inclined abutment surface on the male coupling tongue is equal to or larger than an angle between a lower inclined surface on the vertical locking means of the first panel and a plane parallel with the surface plane. 
     
     
         5 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 1 , wherein the locking protrusion further comprises an inclined abutment surface arranged between an essentially vertical abutment surface on the female locking tongue and the top surface of the female locking tongue, the essentially vertical abutment surface and/or the inclined abutment surface cooperating with an abutment surface on the male coupling tongue to prevent horizontal movement of the panels away from each other. 
     
     
         6 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 1 , wherein the first floor panel comprises a support surface being configured to cooperate with a support surface on the second floor panel to provide a vertical support when the first and second floor panel are connected. 
     
     
         7 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 1 , wherein the male coupling tongue is rigid and non-resilient. 
     
     
         8 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 6 , wherein the second floor panel further comprises an upper joint surface adjoining the support surface, the upper joint surface being configured to abut against an upper joint surface on the first floor panel when the first and second floor panels are joined together. 
     
     
         9 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 8 , wherein the support surface and the joint surface on the second floor panel together form a protrusion which corresponds to a recess, formed by the support surface and the upper joint surface on the first floor panel. 
     
     
         10 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 1 , wherein a distance between the upper surface of the groove and a top surface of the locking protrusion when the first and second floor panels are joined together is between 10% to 40% of the thickness of the first and second floor panel. 
     
     
         11 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 1 , wherein the male coupling tongue comprises a bottom surface configured to face a female coupling recess bottom surface, and wherein the shape of the bottom surface corresponds to the shape of the female coupling recess bottom surface. 
     
     
         12 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 1 , wherein a horizontal channel is provided between the female coupling tongue and a main portion of the second floor panel, wherein the horizontal channel enables horizontal movement of the female coupling tongue. 
     
     
         13 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 8 , wherein the joint surface protrudes a distance horizontally from the male coupling tongue, the distance being larger than a distance which the vertical locking means protrudes from the male coupling tongue, such that the vertical locking means is positioned closer to the main portion of the second floor panel than the joint surface. 
     
     
         14 . The joining system for floor panels according to  claim 12 , wherein a horizontal distance from a distal surface of the female coupling tongue and a distal surface of the main portion of the second floor panel is between 5% and 15% of the length of the female coupling member. 
     
     
         15 . A floor panel comprising a female coupling formed along at least one first side of the floor panel for interconnecting the floor panel to a male coupling of a second floor panel, the female coupling comprising:
 a female coupling recess being arranged on a female coupling tongue protruding away from a main portion of the floor panel towards the adjoining second floor panel, the female coupling recess being adapted to receive a male coupling tongue projecting from the adjoining second floor panel in a direction away from a main floor surface plane in which the floor panels are laid,   an upper guiding surface being located on a side of the female coupling recess on the floor panel forming a guide for the male coupling tongue upon insertion thereof, limiting movement of said male coupling tongue in a horizontal direction towards the main portion of the floor panel,   a vertical locking means configured to cooperate with vertical locking means in the male coupling, enabling a vertical interlocking engagement therewith, wherein the female coupling tongue is resilient and comprises a distally arranged locking protrusion protruding from the female coupling tongue in a direction towards the main floor surface plane and being arranged to be received in a groove in the second panel for horizontal locking of the panels, wherein the locking protrusion is configured to come into contact with the male coupling tongue during joining of the floor panels,   wherein the female coupling is configured for release from the second floor panel by sliding the floor panel and second floor panel in the longitudinal direction of the female coupling in relation to one another or by pivoting the second floor panel in relation to the floor panel, wherein the female coupling comprises:   an inclined abutment surface provided on the locking protrusion of the female coupling tongue for abutment against the male coupling tongue, wherein   the floor panel further comprises a first male coupling formed along a side parallel to the at least one first side of the floor panel, for interconnecting the floor panel to a female coupling of a third floor panel, the male coupling comprising:   a male coupling tongue projecting from the floor panel in a direction away from a main floor surface plane in which the floor panels are laid, the male coupling tongue being formed in one piece in the floor panel, wherein the male coupling is provided with vertical locking means enabling a vertical interlocking engagement with the matching vertical locking means of the female coupling of the third floor panel,   a groove in the floor panel being arranged to receive the distally arranged locking protrusion protruding from the female coupling tongue for horizontal locking of the panels,   wherein the male coupling is configured for release from the third floor panel by sliding the two panels in the longitudinal direction of the male coupling in relation to one another or by pivoting the floor panel in relation to the third floor panel, wherein the male coupling comprises:   an inclined abutment surface provided on the male coupling tongue for abutment with the locking protrusion of the female coupling tongue of the third floor panel,   wherein the male coupling tongue has a protrusion length, measured from a bottom surface of the male coupling tongue to the upper surface of the groove in the floor panel, of between 10% to 40% of a thickness of the floor panel.   
     
     
         16 . The floor panel, according to  claim 15 , wherein the floor panel further comprises a second female coupling formed along a side substantially perpendicular to the at least one first side of the floor panel, for interconnecting the floor panel to a male coupling of a fourth floor panel, the second female coupling comprising:
 a female coupling recess being arranged on a female coupling tongue protruding away from a main portion of the floor panel towards the adjoining second floor panel, the female coupling recess being adapted to receive a male coupling tongue projecting from the adjoining fourth floor panel in a direction away from a main floor surface plane in which the floor panels are laid,   an upper guiding surface being located on a side of the female coupling recess on the floor panel forming a guide for the male coupling tongue upon insertion thereof, limiting movement of said male coupling tongue in a horizontal direction towards the main portion of the floor panel,   a vertical locking means configured to cooperate with vertical locking means in the male coupling, enabling a vertical interlocking engagement therewith, wherein the female coupling tongue is resilient and comprises a distally arranged locking protrusion protruding from the female coupling tongue in a direction towards the main floor surface plane and being arranged to be received in a groove in the second floor panel for horizontal locking of the panels, wherein the locking protrusion is configured to come into contact with the male coupling tongue during joining of the floor panels,   wherein the second female coupling is configured for release from the fourth floor panel by sliding the floor panel and fourth floor panel in the longitudinal direction of the second female coupling in relation to one another or by pivoting the fourth floor panel in relation to the floor panel, wherein the second female coupling comprises:   an inclined abutment surface provided on the locking protrusion of the female coupling tongue for abutment against the male coupling tongue.   
     
     
         17 . The floor panel according to  claim 15 , wherein the floor panel further comprises a second male coupling formed along a side substantially perpendicular to the side on which the first male coupling is formed, the second male coupling being adapted for interconnecting the floor panel to a female coupling on a fifth floor panel, the second male coupling comprising:
 a male coupling tongue projecting from the floor panel in a direction away from a main floor surface plane in which the floor panels are laid, the male coupling tongue being formed in one piece in the floor panel, wherein the male coupling is provided with vertical locking means enabling a vertical interlocking engagement with the matching vertical locking means of the female coupling,   a groove in the floor panel being arranged to receive the distally arranged locking protrusion protruding from the female coupling tongue for horizontal locking of the panels,   wherein the male coupling is configured for release from release from the fifth floor panel by sliding the two panels in the longitudinal direction of the second male coupling in relation to one another or by pivoting the floor panel in relation to the fifth floor panel, wherein the male coupling comprises:   an inclined abutment surface provided on the male coupling tongue for abutment with the locking protrusion of the female coupling tongue of the fifth floor panel,   wherein the male coupling tongue has a protrusion length, measured from a bottom surface of the male coupling tongue to the upper surface of the groove in the floor panel, of between 10% to 40% of a thickness of the floor panel.