Patent ID: 9695851
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: E04F,F16B,Y10T

Claim:
1. A panel including: a top side, an underside, a body, complementary locking means provided in pairs at mutually opposite panel edges, at least one pair of locking means with hook profiles, namely a receiving hook and in opposite relationship thereto an arresting hook, wherein the receiving hook has arranged remote from the body a hook edge and arranged nearer to the body a receiving recess, wherein the receiving recess is open towards the top side, the hook edge having an upper surface, the arresting hook is provided with an arresting recess arranged nearer to the body and open to the underside and has an arresting step arranged remote from the body and which fits in a vertical joining direction into the receiving recess of the receiving hook of a similar adjacent panel, the arresting hook has a transverse joining surface remote from the body and also remote from the body a vertically acting arresting contour, the receiving hook has nearer to the body a transverse joining surface and also nearer to the body a positively locking contour which fits together in positively locking relationship with the arresting contour, that is remote from the body, of the arresting hook of the similar adjacent panel so that locking can be implemented perpendicularly to the plane of mounted panels, the arresting hook has arranged nearer to the body a downwardly extending locking surface at its arresting step, the downwardly extending locking surface extending in the direction from the top side to the underside, the receiving hook has arranged remote from the body an upwardly extending locking surface in the receiving recess, the upwardly extending locking surface extending in a direction from the underside to the top side, formed at the receiving hook is a receiving opening through which the arresting step can be inserted substantially in the joining direction into the receiving recess, wherein the arresting step and the receiving opening are dimensioned and configured so that the step end in an initial position fits into the receiving opening and extends below the upper surface of the hook edge of the receiving hook without elastic deformation of the hook profiles, wherein the downwardly extending locking surface of the arresting hook has a length and the upwardly extending locking surface of the receiving hook has a length so that in the initial position of the step end the downwardly extending locking surface of the arresting hook contacts the upwardly extending locking surface of the receiving hook without deformation of the hook profiles, wherein the downwardly extending locking surface of the arresting hook remains in contact with the upwardly extending locking surface of the receiving hook when the panels are interlocked so that the upwardly extending locking surface of the receiving hook exerts an elastic force that permanently biases the transverse joining surface of the arresting hook toward the transverse joining surface of the receiving hook, wherein the hook edge of the receiving hook and the arresting recess of the arresting hook form a lower latching means, wherein provided remote from the body at the hook edge of the receiving hook is a female latching element or a male latching element, and wherein the arresting recess has near the body a female latching element or a male latching element complementary thereto, and wherein each of the arresting hook and the receiving hook has a flexural region.