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[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates to floor assemblies including a number of extruded thermoplastic members extending across transverse support members, such as boards forming support structures below the extruded thermoplastic members, and, more particularly, to the shape of such extruded thermoplastic members and to methods for fastening such members to the support members.
[0003] 2. Summary of the Background Art
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,011 and D443,936 describe an elongated flooring surface. The elongated flooring member includes features for mounting the flooring member to extend along the top surfaces of a wooden plank. What is needed is the application of this type of anti-skid surface to a flooring member configured to extend atop and between support members. Such a flooring member must be sufficiently stiff and strong to support a useful load in a span extending between adjacent support members extending transverse to the flooring member.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,427 describes an extruded flooring member for use in a floor assembly that is secured to a rigid underlying support. A number of these flooring members are shown as extending atop and between wood joists acting as support members within a flooring assembly. In one version of the flooring system described in this patent, each of the flooring members is fastened to each of the underlying joists by a central snap connector, extending under a central portion of the flooring member. Each flooring member includes a load bearing horizontal portion, two outer leg members, two inner leg members, and two angular cross-members, each of which extends between an outer leg member and an inner leg member to form a closed section. Each of the inner leg members includes a foot forming a portion of a lower surface and extending into a central portion of the flooring member. The central snap connector, fastened to the underlying joists to extend within the central portion, has outward facing flanges that bend the inner leg members outward as the flooring member is pressed downward atop the central snap connector. When the flooring member is pressed down to the underlying joists, the inward extending feet snap inward under the flanges of the central snap connector, to be held down by the flanges.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,479 describes an extruded flooring member that is fastened into place on a number of joists with the same type of fastening clip as the central snap connector used within the first version of the flooring assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,427. The extruded flooring member includes a pair of outer leg members and a pair of inner leg members, each of the outer leg members being connected to an adjacent inner leg member by a horizontal support member. Each inner leg member includes a retaining tab extending therefrom to be caught by an outward-facing flange of the central snap connector as the extruded flooring member is pressed down on the connector.
[0007] However, the outward forces exerted on the feet by the flanges as the flooring member is pressed into place over the central snap connector produce a torque on the load-bearing horizontal member tend to bend the lower surfaces of the flooring member into a convex shape. Depending on the alignment of the feet with the flanges, some of these forces may remain after the flooring member is installed, with the resulting convex shape allowing slight movements of the flooring member on the underlying joists, along with the production of associated noises, when someone walks on the flooring member. Thus, what is needed is an apparatus for snapping an extruded flooring member into place without bending the lower surface of the flooring member into a convex shape.
[0008] In a second version of a flooring system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,427, the flooring member is held in place on a joist by means of an elongated snap connector extending atop the joist and under the entire width of the flooring member. The elongated snap connector includes four short hook-shaped snap members that snap in place over feet extending from the leg members of the flooring member and two short pilot members that guide the flooring member as it is pressed downward on the elongated snap connector. However, what is needed is a snap connector having longer, more flexible snap members, providing for greater flexibility and therefore for ease of assembly.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,886 describes a flooring system including a different kind of elongated snap connector, which can be applied to hold either the extruded flooring member described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,427 or the extruded flooring member described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,479. This different kind of elongated snap extends, for example, under a right portion of one flooring member and a left portion of an adjacent flooring member. A rigid hook holds a foot extending from an intermediate leg of one of the flooring members, while a hook-shaped flexible snap member holds a foot extending from an intermediate leg of the other flooring member. Again, what is needed is a snap connector having longer, more flexible snap members to provide for greater flexibility and ease of assembly.
[0010] Additionally, what is needed is a system providing small mounting members that can be attached to individual joists for fastening in place an extruded flooring member extending at an oblique angle with respect to the individual joists. Such mounting members may be needed, for example, in fabricating a curved or otherwise non-rectangular deck structure. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,553,427 and 6,112,479 show the central snap connector being used as an elongated part, extending atop and between several joists, which can be used even when the joists extend at an oblique angle relative to the flooring members. However, it is desirable to use snap connectors that are only as wide as the individual joists, both to reduce the cost of materials and to make the snapping process easier, with less force being required, and more reliable, with the flooring members only being snapped onto portions of the snap connector that are backed up directly by the joists extending under the connector during the snapping process. For example, the elongated connectors of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,553,427 and 6,233,886 can be used in a width equal to that of the joist, but such an application precludes the use of such connectors extending along individual joists if the flooring member is to extend at an oblique angle relative to the joists.
[0011] Other problems associated with the use of elongated extruded flooring members result from noises that may occur as someone walks on the flooring members. Various examples of the prior art, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,018,925 and 5,553,427 describe the use of a layer of soft material extending along the surfaces of the flooring members where contact will occur with an underlying support structure to prevent or minimize squeaking when a person walks across the flooring member, causing small relative movements to occur between the flooring member and the underlying structure. However, what is additionally needed is a method to deaden a hollow, reverberating sound that may occur as someone walks along an extruded flooring member including one or more hollow sections.
[0012] According to a first aspect of the invention, a floor assembly is provided including a support structure having a first plurality of spaced-apart, horizontally extending support members, a second plurality of elongated flooring members, and a third plurality of clamping blocks. Each of the support members includes an upper surface. The elongated flooring members extend above and across the support members, with each of the elongated flooring members including a lower surface extending adjacent the upper surface of the support members, a clamping strip extending along each side of the elongated flooring member and outward from the lower surface of the elongated flooring member, and an upper surface extending outward along each side of the elongated flooring member to overhang the clamping strip. Each of the clamping blocks is fastened to a support member in the first plurality to extend along the upper surface of the support member between lower surfaces of adjacent elongated flooring members in the second plurality. Each of the clamping blocks includes a clamping tab extending toward each elongated flooring member in the adjacent elongated flooring members over an adjacent clamping strip of the elongated flooring member to hold the lower surface of each of the adjacent elongated flooring members against the upper surface of the support member. Each of the clamping blocks extends under portions of the upper surfaces extending outward along the adjacent elongated flooring members.
[0013] To provide structural strength and rigidity while extending between adjacent support members, each elongated flooring member includes upper and lower webs and a number of walls extending between the upper web and the lower web. To provide space for the clamping blocks while adjacent elongated flooring members are spaced close to one another, the elongated flooring member includes, at each side, a wall extending downward and inward.
[0014] According to a second aspect of the invention, a flooring system is provided, including a first plurality of spaced-apart horizontally extending support members, a second plurality of elongated flooring members, and a third plurality of attachment clips fastened to the support members. Each of the elongated flooring members includes a lower web having a raised central portion, from which a pair of latching arms extends downward. Each of the latching arms includes an upward facing, outward extending latching surface. Each of the attachment clips includes a pair of latching arms extending upward under the raised central portion of the lower web of an elongated flooring member disposed above the attachment clip. Each of the latching arms of the attachment clip includes a latching surface facing downward and extending inward to engage the latching surfaces of the elongated flooring member. In this way, the elongated flooring member is held in place on the support member by the attachment clip, and a torque is provided at the center of the elongated flooring member to hold the opposite edges of the elongated flooring member against the underlying attachment clip, preventing squeaking as someone walks across the elongated flooring member.
[0015] Preferably, an elongated flooring member is composed of an extruded thermoplastic resin to include all of the features necessary for use in either the first or second aspects of the invention. An elongated flooring member may also include core formed with a foamed thermoplastic resin in each of the cavities between an upper web and a lower web and between walls extending between the upper and lower webs. Such foam cores prevent the generation of hollow sounds otherwise formed by reverberation in hollow cavities as a person walks on the flooring members.
[0016]
[0017]
[0018]
[0019]
[0020]
[0021]
[0022]
[0023]
[0024]
[0025]
[0026]
[0027] The floor assembly
[0028] Preferably, the clamping blocks
[0029] The elongated flooring member
[0030] Preferably, the floor assembly
[0031]
[0032] Referring again to
[0033] Then, an elongated flooring member
[0034]
[0035] The top surface of the upper web
[0036]
[0037] In accordance with the first embodiment of the invention, the clamping blocks
[0038]
[0039] The lower web
[0040] Each attachment clip
[0041] This arrangement allows each elongated flooring member
[0042] In this way, an advantage is achieved over prior art flooring systems described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,479, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Such prior art flooring systems include upward facing latching surfaces extending inward as portions of an elongated flooring member to engage a pair of downward facing latching surfaces extending outward as portions of an attachment clip. In such a system, while a downward force is exerted along the areas of engagement between the latching surfaces, holding a central portion of the elongated flooring member against the underlying support members, the engagement of the latching surfaces may be expected to also provide a torque tending to raise the edges of the lower web from the support members. If this occurs, squeaking sounds may be emitted as someone walks across the flooring members, resulting from relative motion occurring between the flooring members and the support members.
[0043] Since the attachment clips
[0044] The process of building the floor assembly
[0045] Preferably, the floor assembly
[0046] Preferably, the edge strip
[0047]
[0048]
[0049]
[0050]
[0051] While the edge strips
[0052] While the invention has been described in terms of its preferred versions or embodiments with some degree of particularity, it is understood that this description has been given only by way of example, and that numerous changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as presented in the appended claims.