Abstract:
A wall panel system, which may be either a slat wall system or a smooth wall system, is provided. The system employs tongue and groove attachment means to conveniently attach the parts of the wall panel system to one another. A method of installing such a wall panel system is also provided.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/110,377, filed on Oct. 31, 2008 the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Wall panel systems are used today in many residential and industrial settings. Such wall panel systems include panels attached to each other to create a wall covering which may be for aesthetic purposes, functional purposes, or both. 
     Such wall panel systems may result in a substantially flat, that is, smooth wall or may have indentions or grooves in it so as to create a functional wall such as a slat wall. Slat walls are walls consisting of a plurality of horizontal panel strips separated by slots or grooves. Brackets with hooks or other fasteners fit in the slots for suspending articles from the wall panel system. Typically, the brackets clip into place in the slots and are removable and repositionable. 
     A common slat wall system is formed of an extruded resin so that the slats and slots are integrally formed as a panel. The panels may have several slots spaced vertically along the panel. Panels are usually attached to walls or studs in a building frame by fasteners such as screws. Typically, these fasteners are visible, which is not desirable. 
     Mounting of a slat wall system to a wall is also sometimes a concern. Long, multi-slot panels are cumbersome and difficult to position, hold, and fasten to a wall all at the same time. 
     The present invention is an improvement in wall system construction. The improvement includes multiple parts that are attachable to one another in an easy fashion by using a tongue and groove system which not only assists in the ease of installation of the wall system, but also helps position the various pieces of the wall system both with respect to the structure the wall panel system is being installed upon, but also with respect to one another. The resulting wall system may either be a smooth wall or may include grooves to create a slat wall. 
     These and other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following specification, claims, and appended drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a slat wall system of the present invention mounted on a wall; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing the components of the slat wall system in a disassembled condition; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view showing a mounting strip for use with the present invention partially mounted on a wall; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing the mounting strip of  FIG. 3  mounted on a wall; 
         FIG. 5  is a fragmentary perspective view showing the mounting strip of  FIG. 3  affixed to a wall with a slat wall panel being attached to the mounting strip; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective and partially sectional view of a slat wall panel system of the present invention mounted to wall studs, with a lower trim strip being attached to the panel system; 
         FIG. 7  is an edge elevational view of a slat wall panel of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is an edge elevational view of an extrusion from which both the mounting strip and lower trim strip may be made; 
         FIG. 9  is a side elevational view of a T-clip for insertion in a groove of a slat wall panel of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9A  is a slat wall of the present invention with T-clips of  FIG. 9  inserted into grooves of the slat wall; 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a finishing strip for finishing the sides of a wall panel system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 11  is a top plan view of a portion of a wall panel system of the present invention employing two of the finishing strips of  FIG. 10 ; 
         FIG. 12  is a finished slat wall system of the present invention; 
         FIG. 13  is a portion of a smooth wall system of the present invention, with a cut-out corner portion; 
         FIG. 14  is a top plan view of portions of two smooth wall panels of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 15  is a partial side elevational view of another embodiment of a panel slat wall system of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words “rightwardly,” “leftwardly,” “upwardly,” and “downwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made, and specifically as the embodiment is oriented in  FIG. 1 . These terms will also be used with reference to directions which are perceived when the wall system is viewed in a normal upright assembled or disassembled condition. The terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings, a slat wall panel system  10  is shown in  FIG. 1  mounted on a preexisting wall  12 . Panel system  10  comprises a slat wall panel  14  connected at an upper edge to a mounting strip  16  and connected at a bottom edge to a trim strip  18 . All of the panels are extruded members produced from synthetic resin, preferably PVC. A preferred resin is a PVC blend in a pellet or powder form. 
     Panel  14  comprises a plurality of raised slats  20  defining a front face  21  of the panel, and are separated by bracket mounting grooves  22  defined by a back wall  24  which also defines a back side  23  of the panel  14 . The uppermost slat  25  and the lowermost slat  27  are approximately ½ the height of the other slats  21 . Uppermost slat  25  has a shoulder  29  which defines an upper end of the panel  14 . Panel  14  is preferably about ¼″ to ¾″ in thickness, from front face  21  to back side  23 , and more preferably about ¾″ thick, from front face  21  to back side  23 . The material thickness is preferably approximately one third of the overall thickness of the panel; thus, for a ¾″ thick panel, the material thickness is preferably about ¼″ thick. 
     Grooves  22  extend inwardly from the vertical plane in which front face  21  is located to the back wall  24  and extend upwardly creating an upwardly extending portion  26  that is positioned behind the front face  21  of a slat  20 . 
     Brackets  28  fit in grooves  22  to suspend articles from the slat wall system. Bracket  28 , shown for exemplary purposes in  FIG. 1 , includes an outwardly extending arm  30 , a rear end  32  of the arm that abuts the front face  21  of slat  20 , a rearwardly extending portion  34  that fits into groove  22 , and an upwardly extending rear leg  36  that fits in upwardly extending portion  26  of the groove  22 . Any number of different types of brackets for hanging various different objects can be suspended from the slat wall system of the present invention. Panel  14  further includes a curved tongue  54  which extends generally upwardly from the upper end of panel  14 . Tongue  54  has a lower thinner portion  56  and an upper thicker head portion  60  (see  FIGS. 5 and 7 ). Panel  14  also has a rear portion  61  which extends below the tongue to a short leg  62 . The tongue  54  is shaped and sized to be received within an arcuate groove  48  of mounting strip  16 , as discussed in more detail below. 
     While a single slat wall panel  14  is shown in  FIG. 1 , with the panel having three spaced grooves  22  therein, it should be understood that the slat wall panel system can include any number of slat wall panel members  14  attached to each other, and each panel  14  can be sized as needed with any number of slats and grooves. 
     The construction of the mounting strip  16  is shown in  FIG. 5 . Mounting strip  16  has a front face  42 , a lower front edge  43 , a rear surface  44 , an upper surface  46 , an extension arm  47 , and arcuate groove  48  extending upwardly into the interior and slightly outwardly toward the front face  42  of the mounting strip. The arcuate groove  48  is preferably a different shape from grooves  22  of the panel  14  as they serve different functions. The mounting strip has a lower flange  50  with a recessed portion  40  that preferably extends the entire length of the mounting strip  16 . The recessed portion  40  is preferably sized such that the head of a standard screw will fit therein, as shown in  FIG. 5 . The lower flange  50  extends to define a portion of arcuate groove  48  and downwardly below the lower edge of front face  42 . Fasteners  38  such as screws extend through lower flange  50  in order to mount the mounting strip  16  to the wall or studs of a building frame, as described below. The groove  48 , by extending toward front face  42 , defines a concave portion  58  and a convex portion  59  in the areas of the groove  48  closest to front face  42 . 
     Trim strip  18  includes a tongue  64  which is preferably shaped identically to tongue  54  of the panel  14  (see  FIG. 6 ). Trim strip  18  also includes a lower leg  66 , which is substantially horizontal and defines a portion of a back  68  of the trim strip  18 . A shoulder  69  adjacent tongue  64  also extends the entire length of trim strip  18 . 
       FIGS. 3-6  show how the separate elements of the system are used to conveniently mount the panel system to a building structure. Referring to  FIG. 3 , the first step in mounting the panel system of the present invention is to attach upper mounting strip  16  to a wall or studs of a building structure. This is accomplished by attaching a first end of the mounting strip to the wall or stud by a fastener  38 , such as a screw. Drywall screws can be used. The fasteners  38  may be driven through the material of the mounting strip  16  and do not require a prior hole. The fasteners  38  are driven through recessed portion  40  (see  FIG. 5 ) and attached to the wall, or more preferably to a stud  100  which may be behind a wall  110  (see  FIG. 6 ). After one end of mounting strip  16  has been attached to a wall or stud, a level  4  is used to orient the mounting strip  16  in a substantially horizontally level position. Thereafter, fasteners  38  are inserted in the middle and second end of the mounting strip  16  through recessed portion  40 . The attachment by fasteners  38  secures the mounting strip  16  in position, which in turn assists in positioning the remaining portions of the wall system  10 . Because the mounting strip  16  is relatively light, it is not difficult to hold the mounting strip  16  in position while it is being fastened. The mounting strip  16  thereafter is used to suspend the rest of the panel system  10 . 
     Once the mounting strip has been mounted in the manner shown in  FIGS. 3-4 , a wall panel  14  can be attached to and suspended from the mounting strip  16 . Wall panels  14  are connected to the upper mounting strip  16  by placing panel  14  slightly below mounting strip  16 , tilting the lower end of panel  14  away from the wall or stud, and moving panel  14  upwardly to move the head  60  of tongue  54  into groove  48 . Tongue  54  fits snugly into arcuate groove  48  in the upper mounting strip  16 . The lower end of the panel is then rotated into position against the wall, and when this is accomplished, the head portion  60  of the tongue  54  sits against or adjacent concave portion  50  and abuts convex portion  59  to prevent the panel from sliding downwardly out of the groove, thus effectively locking the panel  14  to the mounting strip  16 . Once the tongue  54  is fully inserted into the groove  48 , rear portion  61  of the panel  14  abuts the front of lower flange  50  and the shoulder  29  of panel  14  preferably abuts the lower front edge  43  of mounting strip  16 . It is possible that shoulder  29  and lower front edge  43  do not abut upon attachment of panel  14  to mounting strip  16 . If the shoulder  29  and the lower front edge  43  do not abut, there is only a minimal gap between them, which is substantially smaller, in the vertical direction, than groove  22 . 
     When the slat wall panel  14  has been inserted into groove  48  and pivoted so as to be in contact with the wall or studs, as shown in  FIG. 6 , fasteners  38  are inserted through a recess  68  extending lengthwise adjacent the bottom edge of panel  14 , in the same manner as recess  50 . Fasteners  38  lock the bottom of the panel  14  in place. The upper portion of the panel  14  hides from view the fasteners  38  which hold mounting strip  16  to the wall or stud. 
     Lower trim strip  18  is then attached to panel  14  in the same way as panel  14  is attached to mounting strip  16 . Lower trim strip  18  is placed slightly below panel  14 , the lower portion of the lower trim strip tilted away from the wall or stud, and the lower trim strip  18  moved upwardly to locate tongue  64  directly under groove  63 . A direction arrow  65 , shown in  FIG. 6 , shows the general direction of insertion of tongue  64  into groove  63 . The tongue  64  of lower trim strip  18  is inserted into groove  63  (which is shaped substantially the same as groove  48  in upper mounting strip  16 ) in the lower edge of panel  14 . (See  FIG. 6 ). Lower trim strip  18  is pivoted into abutting contact with the wall to lock the lower trim strip in place. Shoulder  69  preferably abuts the lower edge of panel  14 , but abutment is not necessary. If there is not abutment between the shoulder  69  and the lower edge of panel  14 , the gap there created is minimal and substantially smaller in the vertical direction than the size of grooves  22 . Thus, lower trim strip  18  is held in place by the lower end of the panel  14  by a friction fit. Lower trim strip  18  hides fasteners  38  in panel  14  from view so that all of the fasteners are hidden. 
     Lower trim strip  18  does not have a fastener attaching it to the wall, but the tongue  64  and groove  63  in the trim strip  18  and panel  14 , respectively, are formed so that they will be resiliently held together when pressed into position. The fasteners  38  may assist in holding the lower edge of the panel  14  in place. When fasteners  38  are pulled out slightly or screws are screwed out of their fully inserted position by about one half turn, the heads of the fasteners tend to provide a greater friction fit between tongue  64  and groove  63  when the lower trim strip  18  is fitted into position and pivoted into abutment with the wall or studs. This provides an advantage, because if another panel is to be mounted on the wall, the trim strip  18  can easily be removed by overcoming the friction fit and then fitting another panel into the groove  63  of the first panel. The trim strip  18  then attaches to the groove  63  of the second panel. 
     The upper mounting strip  16  and lower trim strip  18  can be extruded as a single unit  70  and separated by a saw into two parts along lines  72  and  74 , as indicated in  FIG. 8 . This saves a significant amount of expense in tooling and fabrication of the parts. 
     The wall system  10  of the present invention may also employ a finishing strip. A finishing strip  130  may be employed to provide a more desirable aesthetic appearance to a wall panel system. To use such a finishing strip, at least one T-clip  120  is inserted into a groove  22  of panel  14 . (See  FIG. 9-9A ). The T-clip includes a head portion  122 , a pair of legs  124  which extend downwardly from the head portion  122  and resilient curved feet  126  which extend from legs  124 . T-clip  120  is placed into groove  22  by pressing the feet  126  against the edges of the groove  22  to bias the legs  124  toward each other slightly to allow the feet  126  to enter the groove, and then to rebound, thereby holding the T-clip in place. 
     The elongated finishing strip  130  may then be either slid or clipped onto the T-clip to hold it in place with respect to the remainder of panel system  10  to finish the edge of the panel system  10 . Finishing strip  130  includes an elongated groove  132  adjacent the bottom of the finishing strip as finishing strip  130  is oriented and shown in  FIG. 10 . Groove  132  preferably extends the entire length of finishing strip  130 . Above the groove  132  is a serrated member  134  and above that a finish member  136 . Serrated member  134  and finish member  136  are spaced apart, creating a gap  138  therebetween. 
     If the finishing strip  130  is used, a single strip  130  on each edge may be employed, or two strips may be used in tandem on each edge. To use two finishing strips  130  in tandem, as shown in  FIG. 11 , two finishing strips  130  are connected to each other by generally aligning a first finishing strip  130   a  and a second finishing strip  130   b  in the lengthwise direction but in mirror image fashion with respect to one another. The serrated member  134   a  of the first finishing strip  130   a  is inserted into the gap  138   b  of the second finishing strip, thereby also inserting the finish member  136   b  of the second finishing strip  130   b  into the gap  138   a  of the first finishing strip  130   a . The serrations and friction among the various members of the two finishing strips  130  hold the two finishing strips in place with respect to one another, and one or more T-clips may be employed to attach the first finishing strip  130   a  to the panel  14  (see  FIG. 11 ). The use of one or more finishing strips  130  on the sides of the panel system  10  creates a framed look with respective finishing strips  130  on the sides of the panel system  10  and the mounting strip  16  and lower trim strip  18  creating the upper and lower frame portions, respectively, as shown in  FIG. 12 . 
     As described above, the attachment system of the present invention may be employed with a smooth wall panel, that is, a slatless wall panel. The smooth wall system uses the same tongue and groove attachment system described above, but the panels themselves may also be attached to one another along a vertical attachment apparatus. As shown in  FIG. 13 , the smooth wall panel system  210  includes one or more panels  214 , an upper mounting strip  216 , and a lower trim strip  218 . The smooth wall panel system  210  also preferably includes a finishing strip  230  on each side of the smooth wall panel system  210 . The smooth wall system  210  is constructed in similar fashion to the above-described slat wall system  10 . An upper mounting strip  216 —virtually identical, although preferably smaller, to that of mounting strip  16 —is attached to the building structure by use of fasteners. One or more panels  214  are then attached to both the mounting strip  216  and to the wall. The panels  214  are attached to the mounting strip  216  in the same fashion as with the slat wall system  10  described above. A tongue  254  extending from the upper edge of the panels  214  is inserted into groove  248  of mounting strip  216  by tilting the bottom of the panel outward, inserting the tongue  254  into groove  248 , and then tilting the bottom edge of the panel  214  toward the wall. The panels are then also preferably attached, such as by staples, to the wall along a rear vertical flange  262  (see  FIG. 14 ). 
     On a first side of the panel, in addition to the rear flange  262 , the panels  214  include a front flange  264  which is shorter in the horizontal direction than the rear flange  262 . Flanges  262  and  264  extend, preferably along the entire vertical length of panel  214 , from a body  260  of the panel  214  and are spaced apart from one another leaving a gap  265  therebetween. On a second opposite side of panel  214 , at least one leg  266  extends from the body  260  of the panel  214 . The leg  266  is substantially centrally located front to back, and thus leaves a rear space  268  and a front space  270  adjacent the leg  266 . 
     To attach an additional panel when a first panel  214  has been installed, a second panel  214   b  is first attached to the mounting strip  216  in a location adjacent the first installed panel  214   a  by insertion of the tongue  254  of the second panel  214   b  into the groove  248  of the mounting strip  216  and then sliding the second panel  214   b  horizontally toward the first panel  214   a  to attach to the first panel  214   a  by friction fit. To attach a second panel to a first installed panel, the second panel  214   b  is slid toward the first panel  214   a , inserting leg  266  into gap  265 , and the flanges  262  and  264  occupy the rear space  268  and the front space  270 , respectively, adjacent leg  266 . The insertion of leg  266  into gap  265  creates a friction fit between the panels. The second panel  214   b  is then preferably attached to the wall by stapling through the rear flange  262  of the second panel into the wall. Once the desired number of panels are inserted and attached to both the mounting strip  216  and the wall in this fashion, a second finishing strip  230  is preferably attached and a lower trim strip  218  is attached to finish the smooth wall panel system  210 . 
       FIG. 15  shows another embodiment of a wall panel system. The wall panel system  310  of  FIG. 15  includes a panel  314  with an upwardly extending tongue  354 , and a mounting strip  316  with a groove  348 . Tongue  354  and associate groove  348  are opposite in direction with respect to the tongue  54  and groove  48  of the panel system  10 . In other words, as the tongue  354  and groove  348  extend upwardly, they curve toward back side  323  of panel system  10 . Because panel  314  cannot be tilted beyond the vertical plane of the wall or studs to which the panel system is to be attached in most cases, tongue  354  is thin enough to bend and snap into place in groove  348 . The attachment of panel  314  to mounting strip  316  preferably creates no gap at their juncture, or only a minimal gap that is substantially smaller vertically than the size of a slat  322  in panel  314 . 
     The panel system of the present invention provides many advantages. The system is easily and quickly installed with a minimum of tools, and may be installed by a “do-it-yourself” homeowner. Yet, the size and shape of the panel system creates a large load-bearing ability, and may be installed over a large area. The sides and ends are clean and aesthetically pleasing, due to the mounting strip abutting (or closely adjacent) the panel, by the use of finishing strips, and due to a structure whereby all fasteners are hidden. The finishing strips of the present invention may likewise be quickly installed and are attached directly to the panels, creating a clean, framed look of the wall panel system. 
     It should be understood that various changes and arrangements may be made in the foregoing construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.