Metal strip for interlocking floorboard and a floorboard using same

Abstract

The invention relates to a strip for a building board (2), exhibiting a board body (S) which is formed with a gripping stud (24). The strip (10) extends from the body (S) and from which are formed gripping elements (26, 28), which are bent round the gripping stud (24) for mechanical fastening of the strip (10) to the body (S), as well as a locking element (12) for enabling mechanical joining of the board (2) to similar boards.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10 / 171,752, filed Jun. 17, 2002, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 816,166, filed on Mar. 26, 2001; now abandoned, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 323,999, filed on Jun. 2, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,639; which is a continuation of PCT / SE97 / 02033, which was filed on Dec. 5, 1997 and claims priority to SE 9604484-7 filed on Dec. 5, 1996; and this application is also a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 534,007, filed on Mar. 24, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,579; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 356,563, filed on Jul. 19, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,410; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 193,687, filed on Nov. 18, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,907; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 003,499, filed on Jan. 6, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,267; which is a divisional of application Ser. N...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The invention provides a technique for improving building boards by making the mechanical fastening of the strip to the body easier and more secure, even in the event of dimensional changes in the body or positional variations in the gripping stud. This is achieved by preforming the gripping elements of the strip prior to bending them round the gripping stud, so that they strike against the gripping stud with a biasing force that compensates for tolerances with respect to the position of the gripping stud. The preforming and bending process also ensures that the gripping elements achieve a permanent reverse bending and a resilient return, which compensates for any dimensional changes in the body or metal strip. This technique improves the manufacturing process and the strength of the building board."

Problems solved by technology

However, there are certain differences compared to the prior art with respect to the geometrical shapes of a gripping stud and a locking element.

Such dimensional changes of the body and / or the metal strip may have a negative impact on the mechanical connection between the body and the strip, and may specifically result in undesired joint gaps between the boards as well as poor strength.

If the strip is positioned in relation to the gripping stud at the time of manufacturing, this positional variation of the gripping edges may result in the strip being positioned incorrectly.

Whereas, if the bending punches had been operating towards the edges of the gripping stud, whose position varies in such a punching direction because of the aforementioned manufacturing tolerances, the pressure on the gripping stud would have varied considerably, with the risk of the gripping stud breaking or the fastening of the strip being loose.

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