Abstract:
The invention comprises, on the one hand, a fastening system for assembling a series of hardwood floor member and, on the other hand, to a hole making apparatus for creating proper apertures in hardwood flooring members. The fastening system utilizes interlocking fasteners that pass laterally through each board at set intervals, whereby a floating flooring system is created regardless of the substrate forming the flooring area. The hole making apparatus forms lateral bores at regular intervals in each board so that the fastening system can be applied to conventional hardwood pieces.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention provides an assembly and method for mounting hardwood or other type of flooring assembly to a substrate.  
         [0003]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0004]     Typically, flooring systems (e.g., hardwood floors) are made of different species of wood coming from different kinds of trees in nature such as oak, walnut, hickory, maple, and cherry just to name a few. They are all manufactured in random lengths from 18 inches up to 60 inches long and also random widths, which can vary from 2¼, 3, 3¼, 4, 5, 6 up to 7 inches wide. All hardwood floors, however, do have one thing in common which are their tongue-and-groove interlocking arrangement. Every piece of hardwood flooring has a single groove on one lengthwise side and one tongue on the opposite lengthwise side that allows the tongue of one piece to sit in the groove of the neighboring piece.  
         [0005]     There are two different categories of hardwood floors, solid and engineered. The one category made with ¾″ thickness from solid wood is called “solid hardwood floors,” and the other category made out of pressed three ply with a veneer of wood attached to their top surfaces is called “engineered hardwood floors” and their thickness typically varies from 3/8 inches up to 9/16 th  of an inch.  FIG. 1  illustrates the referenced dimensions of length, thickness and width for a hardwood floor board.  
         [0006]     There are mainly two methods that could be used to install hardwood on a surface. The first method is called nail down, and the second method is called glue down. In the United States and for that matter most of the countries around the globe, most commercial floors and residential basement floors are made of concrete, whereas the first and second floors of residential houses and townhouses are made out of wooden frame covered with plywood underlie.  
         [0007]     Up to now the solid wood has only been used to cover the first and second floors of residential houses and townhouses as only the plywood underlie flooring allows the use of the nail down method, thus we see the solid hardwood floor is restricted in its market. Solid hardwood can not be nailed down to floors made out of concrete and also can not be glued to them first because of their solidity and their thickness and second because of their extreme measure of expansion and contraction due to atmospheric temperature and moisture degree change. For this reason, the hardwood industry came up with the second alternative called engineered hardwood floors. This type of hardwood floor is glued down to concrete floors using second method, which is the glue down method.  
         [0008]     In the course of the last two decades the hard surface industry has also invented laminate flooring, which is a type of “floating” floor system made out of pressed composite wood covered by a decorative layer of imitation laminated wood veneer. So far, however, no other floor covering product has replaced the durability and beauty of real solid hardwood. Engineered hardwood is very deficient. For example, when this type of wood is installed, the trapped moisture that may be present inside of concrete elevates to the wood and makes the wood susceptible to bowing, warping and separation of the wood from the concrete underneath. Another problem with this kind of engineered wood is temperature change. When temperature fluctuates the wood starts expanding or contracting and this also results in separation of wood from concrete and appearance of gaps between the wood planks.  
         [0009]     Another deficiency of this engineered wood is its lifetime. Once installed, the engineered wood goes through wear and tear and scratches and it must be taken up and disposed of, as it cannot be sanded and refinished for reuse. For these reasons the commercial industry is hesitant to buy, install and invest in engineered hardwood flooring.  
         [0010]     The cost of producing engineered hardwood floor is equal to or sometimes much higher than the cost of producing solid hardwood floors. In comparison, solid hardwood flooring is a beautiful product that can be sanded and finished over and over so it may last for a few decades without replacement.  
         [0011]     The need therefore exists for a hardwood installation system and method that overcomes the drawbacks inherent in the prior art.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     The invention comprises, on the one hand, a fastening system for assembling a series of hardwood floor member and, on the other hand, to a hole making apparatus for creating proper apertures in hardwood flooring members.  
         [0013]     A floor installation system for interlocking a plurality of flooring members, comprises a plurality of main fasteners, each of said the fasteners having an elongated central body portion, a male connector portion at a first end of the central body portion, and a female connector portion at a second enlarged head end. The male connector portion is adapted to mate with the female portion. In addition, a plurality of resilient washer members are provided that are sized to fit on the elongated central body portion and to abut the second enlarged head end.  
         [0014]     The plurality of main fasteners are adapted to form a series of interlocked fasteners passing widthwise through a plurality of flooring members and the resilient washer members are adapted to absorb expansion and contraction of said flooring members.  
         [0015]     Additional fastener members, which are described below, are provided to account for variations in the installation areas. These and other features and benefits of this invention will be shown and described below with reference to the accompany drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]      FIG. 1  shows a typical hardwood floor board.  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  illustrates an example of the hole making device of the present invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  illustrates the head portion of the hole making device of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  illustrates the body portion of the hole making device of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  illustrates a sliding drill head complex.  
         [0021]      FIG. 6  illustrates a drill machine holder complex.  
         [0022]      FIGS. 7   a  and  7   b  illustrate the main fastener member of this invention.  
         [0023]      FIG. 8  illustrates a length adjuster screw used in situations where board is trimmed partially and its width is shortened.  
         [0024]      FIG. 9  illustrates a resilient washer member.  
         [0025]      FIG. 10  illustrates an adjust/reverse fastener according to this invention.  
         [0026]      FIG. 11  illustrates a female nut member according to this invention.  
         [0027]      FIG. 12  illustrates a synchro nut and synchro o-ring according to this invention.  
         [0028]      FIG. 13  illustrates a finishing end cap nut according to this invention.  
         [0029]      FIG. 14  illustrates a solid metal washer used for adjustment by filling spaces between fasteners where the fasteners are loose.  
         [0030]      FIG. 15  illustrates a depth measuring nut  99  used to measure the depth of a fastener to be added to the total length of a length adjuster screw in order to match the correct sizes.  
         [0031]      FIG. 16  illustrates a synchronizer used in conjunction with the synchro nut and synchro o-ring of  FIG. 12 .  
         [0032]      FIGS. 17   a  and  17   b  illustrate a type of male and female cross-transition lock screws used when there is a need for a transitional piece to be installed perpendicular to the direction of a particular wood strip.  
         [0033]      FIG. 18  exemplifies one example of the interlocking system according to this invention.  
         [0034]      FIG. 19  illustrates the methodology for using this installation system when a floor board is ripped or cut lengthwise to fit a narrow area.  
         [0035]      FIG. 20  illustrates the starting lock nut with a hexagonal head shown in partial cross section.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0036]     This invention primarily comprises a hole making apparatus and a series of fasteners and their components.  
         [0037]     The hole making device  10  is designed to make cross sectional bore holes in the body of the solid hardwood strips  1 , allowing the fasteners to be seated in the referenced holes. The cross sectional bore holes pass through the strip  1  and are formed with an enlarged entrance portion to receive an enlarged head of the fastener  60  shown in  FIGS. 7   a - 7   b . The hole maker  10  is equipped with a measuring tool  12  which allows the precise measurement of distance between two neighboring holes.  
         [0038]     In the preferred embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , the hole maker  10  is formed as a T-shaped assembly. The head  20  of the T-shaped assembly as shown in  FIG. 3  is designed in the form of a channel  22 . The right side wall  23  of the channel  22  is adjustable to accommodate incoming hardwood strips with different widths. The left sidewall  24  of the channel  22  contains a central hole  24   a , an elongated side window  24   b  and a windowed ruler  24   c  attached to the left side wall  24  from the outside. The ruler  24   c  has a window that matches the side window  24   b  of the left sidewall  24 . Built over the wall window  24   b , the zero of the ruler  24   c  precisely coincides with the central hole  24   a  on the left sidewall  24 . The ruler  24   c  also is equipped with a sliding pointer  25  which slides inside the ruler&#39;s window and shows wherever the pointer&#39;s head coincides with any number on the ruler that indicates the distance of the first hole made in the body of the wood and the second hole being made at zero of the ruler which is the central hole.  
         [0039]     The pointer  25  may be provided with a screw nut bracket, which tightens the pointer  25  at the desired point on the ruler  24   c . The pointer bracket also has a spring-loaded handle, the tail of which is a long passing pin, which passes through the side window and the first hole made in the wood. This tail acts like a locking device, avoiding the wood and the first hole to move forward and backward while the next hole is made at the central hole. When the handle is released the wood is allowed to move forward, and, since the handle is spring loaded this time the pointer&#39;s pin will engage in the second hole, and this gives way to the third hole to be made at the central hole and so on.  
         [0040]     The body  30  of hole maker  10  provides a mounting structure for the drilling components of the hole maker  10 . The mounting structure comprises rails in the form of three stainless steel rods  32   a ,  32   b ,  32   c  mounted to two triangular support members  34 ,  35  at their vortexes. The rails  32   a - 32   c  and support members  34 ,  35  are mounted to an adjustable support plate  37  whose height relative to the head  20  is adjustable.  
         [0041]     The drilling components will now be described. With reference to  FIG. 5 , a sliding drill head complex  40  which has an inner cone headed cylinder  41 , and which is capable of being spun, acting like a drill head holds a two stage drill bead  43  and sits inside an outer non spinning cylinder  42 . Three connection bars  45  welded to the outer non spinning cylinder  42  are positioned 120 degrees on the outer rim of the cylinder holding three sliding cylinders  46  at their other ends. When this complex is assembled, three stainless steel rods  32   a - 32   c  pass through the three sliding cylinders  46  and the complex slides forward and backward on the rods  32   a - 32   c.    
         [0042]     With reference to  FIG. 6 , an adjustable drill holder complex  50 , which contains three sliding cylinders  52 , is connected by two bowing hands  53  that link the cylinders  52  from two sides. The hands  53  position the three cylinders  52  at symmetrical 120 degrees from each other. To each cylinder  52 , a bracket  54  is welded which is equipped with a turning knob  55  connected to a cushioned end enabling the complex to adjust and grip different types of drill machines (see element ‘d’ of  FIG. 2 ). When assembled, the three stainless steel rods also pass through the sliding cylinders  52  and the holder complex  50  is positioned behind the drill head complex  40  on the rods, sliding freely forward and backward to adjust to any drill machine&#39;s body leverage.  
         [0043]     While the hole maker  10  has been shown and described with respect to the best mode of this invention, it will be understood that the hole maker may function like a typical drill press or other assembly designed to form lateral holes in the wood member at desired positions.  
         [0044]     The fasteners and their components will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 7   a - 17   b . The fasteners and their components are designed to fasten the hardwood strips in a very versatile and practical way so that any type of floor can be covered by solid hardwood.  
         [0045]     The main fastener  60  is primarily used to fasten the strips of wood together and is designed in different lengths to accommodate, for example, 3″, 3¼″, 4″, 5″ and 6″ widths. As shown in  FIGS. 7   a  and  7   b , the main fastener  60  is designed as a screw member with a male end  62  and a female end  64  such that the male end  62  may be matingly received in the female end  64 . The female end  64  is also preferably formed to receive a flat-end or Phillips-end screwdriver or other torque device.  
         [0046]     In its most simple incarnation, the present invention utilizes the main fasteners  60  to interlock adjacent boards  1 ,  2  whereby a first series of main fasteners  60 ′ are disposed in the first series of boards  1  with a starting lock nut  70  threaded onto the male end  62 ′. The starting lock nut  70  has a hexagonal head as shown in  FIG. 20 . A resilient, flexible washer  75  (see  FIG. 9 ) made, preferably, of soft plastic adjusts the tension between wood and the fasteners when the wood expands or contracts. The second series of boards  2  are then aligned with the first series of boards  1  so that the male end  62 ″ of the main fasteners  60 ″ are threadingly received in the female end  64 ′ of the fasteners  60 ′. This process is continues throughout the installation area.  
         [0047]     As will be understood by those of skill in the art, installation usually requires certain boards to be trimmed or notched to fit the installation area. A special length adjuster screw  80  shown in  FIG. 8  may be used in situations where board is trimmed partially and its width is shortened, as this part can be clipped and shortened to accommodate for variable width adjustment. An adjusting/reversing fastener  85  is used with the length adjuster screw  80 , the adjuster screw  80  and fastener  85  together function much like the main fastener  60 .  
         [0048]     As described below, the adjusting/reversing fastener  85  can also be used to reverse the installation direction.  
         [0049]     Similarly, the present invention also comprises a female nut member  90  which converts the end of the main fastener  60  to a female joint. The female nut member  90  is especially useful when an additional hardwood area is added to an existing hardwood area.  
         [0050]     As shown in  FIGS. 13   a  and  13   b , a synchronizing nut  94  and a synchronizing o-ring  95  are used in areas where wood strips are joined perpendicular to one another. The nut  94  and o-ring  95  prevent vertical and horizontal movement at the joint. The synchro nut  94  is screwed into one of the boards and the synchro o-ring  95  is disposed in the adjacent board such that the synchro nut  94  is received in the o-ring  95 . A synchronizer or marker  100  may be used to mark the alignment of the synchro nut  94  and synchro o-ring  95  on two parallel wood strips. The synchro nut  94  and synchro o-ring  95  are inserted at the intersection of the two wood strips. The location of drilling these two areas is created point-to-point. The synchronizer or marker  100  provides the exact point-to-point marking locations on both pieces of wood to be drilled for insertion of the nut  94  and o-ring  95 .  
         [0051]     A finishing end cap nut  98  combines with the length adjuster screw  80 , whereby the end cap nut  98  caps and finishes the last piece of hardwood board at the finishing wall.  
         [0052]     A solid metal washer  76  such as illustrated in  FIG. 14  may be used for adjustment by filling spaces between fasteners where the fasteners are loose. In addition, a depth measuring nut  99  such as shown in  FIG. 15  may be used to measure the depth of a fastener to be added to the total length of a length adjuster screw  80  in order to match the correct sizes.  
         [0053]     When there is a need for a transitional piece to be installed perpendicular to the direction of a particular wood strip, male and female cross-transition lock screws  96 ,  97  shown in  FIG. 17   a  and  17   b  provide the mechanical connectors capable of performing the connection.  
         [0054]     There are several suggested rules to be employed when starting the installation process utilizing the present invention:  
         [0055]     1. The hole making direction is preferably left to right.  
         [0056]     2. The drilling direction is preferably from the groove to the tongue.  
         [0057]     3. The first strip of each row is drilled 4 inches to the right from left end of the strip.  
         [0058]     4. When the first hole is made at 4 inches the second hole can be drilled 8 to 12 inches from it, and when this distance is set it must remain the same through out the rest of the installation process. For example, if this distance is set on an 8 inch increment, the rest of the holes will follow 8 inches from each other, except the first hole of every new row which is set back to 4 inches. The number of fasteners needed in a given area can be calculated by dividing the length of the area, which is equal to the length of one row in this increment multiplied by width of the area divided by width of the wood strip. In a 10 foot by 10 foot room, 120 inches—length of area/8 inch increment and 120 inches width of the area/3 inch width of each wood strip=600 fasteners needed, although if the increment is set on 10 inches then 480 fasteners are needed.  
         [0059]     5. In order to keep the precise distance between the holes in every row and synchronize the holes of the neighboring rows: A—Every strip of wood must be inserted in the hole maker device one after another and when the final hole in the first wood strip is created, the second wood strip comes in and joins the first wood strip tightly, and right after the first hole in the second wood strip is created the first wood strip can exit out for installation. B-due to the size difference in the wood strips&#39; length, the strips cannot be advanced or be left out in the installation process. The strips come out of the hole maker and in the same sequence they get installed. The first wood strip gets installed and then the second, the third and so on.  
         [0060]     The installation process utilizing the instant invention will now be described with reference to the foregoing hole making apparatus and a series of fasteners and their components.  
         [0061]     After the wood flooring is acclimated and the floor area is prepared, it will get covered with one layer of poly flex foam, which is a rolled product. The next step is to choose a starting wall. It is always a good idea to choose a wall which has a door way or it needs a transitional piece because at this stage this piece can be attached to the wood strips easily and efficiently. When the wall is chosen the hole making process can be started. A regular drill machine is needed to be attached to the hole maker device  10  in a way that the drill head is tightened when engaged with the spin tail of the sliding drill head complex  40 , the body of the drill machine will fall in the adjustable drill holder complex  50  which now can be adjusted and tightened to the drill machine by tightening its knobs  55 . The hole maker  10  is designed and equipped with a ruler  24   c  and sliding pointer  25  which measures the precise distance between two holes. Every hole is made at zero mark on the ruler which is the central hole of the T channel where the drill bead intercepts with the wood strip&#39;s groove, and as the first hole must be made 4 inches from the left end of the strip, we set the ruler&#39;s sliding pointer at the 4 inch mark by sliding and tightening it at that point. When the wood is inserted into the T head channel  22 , width adjustment can be made by sliding the adjustable wall  23  of the channel  22  towards wood and tightening the knobs on the back of the side wall  23 . When we slide the wood strip more into the T head channel the tail of the ruler&#39;s sliding pointer stops the wood. At this time if we slide the drill towards the central hole and create a hole it will be exactly placed 4 inches from the left end of the wood strip. When the first hole is made we set the sliding pointer of the ruler on 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12 inches or any desirable distance. For instance if an 8 inch increment is chosen it has to stay at the same interval during the entire installation process except the first hole on every new row which the number is set back to 4 inches.  
         [0062]     A resilient plastic washer  75  is combined with every fastener  60  to accommodate enough space for wood expansion and contraction. One fastener and washer combo  60 ,  75  is inserted in every wood strip hole.  
         [0063]     Setting and installing the first row of wood strip at the starting wall is the most crucial part of the process. At this time ½ inch of distance must be kept between the wall and the first row of the strips. In order to secure the fasteners inserted into the bores of the first row, their exposed end at the tongue side will be tightened with a starting lock nut  70 . When the first row of the strips is established the second row will join in a way that the exposed mail threads of the male end  62  of the fasteners  60  at the tongue will be tightened to the heads of the female ends  64  of the fasteners  60  exposed in the bores of the first row. Every row will be fastened to the neighboring row one after the other until the finishing wall is approached, and at this time the distance between the last complete row and the finishing wall is measured.  
         [0064]     If the distance is almost ½ inch from the finishing wall the last fasteners are tightened and the process is ended. The shoe moldings are the final pieces to be installed. If the distance is more than ½ inch then the last row has to be cut along the length of the board to become a partial row, and ½ inch must be subtracted from the total distance measured between the last complete row and the finishing wall. The result of this subtraction is the size of the partial row; this way ½ inch gap to the finishing wall is kept. In order to finish and fasten this partial row the hole making sequence must be kept the same way, and the parts needed to finish the partial end row are the free-headed length adjuster screws, the end cap nuts and the measuring nut.  
         [0065]     When the free-head length adjuster screw  80  is cut and sized properly, it is joined with the end cap nut  98 , and this combination  80 ,  98  is inserted in the bores of the partial row and is tightened to the rest of the rows. To achieve the correct size, first the free head adjuster screw  80  is tightened to the end cap nut  98 . Next, the combination of the free head length adjuster screw  80  and the end cap nut  98  is inserted in the bore of the partial row wood strip as shown in  FIG. 19 , and the measuring nut  99  is tightened to the other end of the length adjuster screw  80  as shown in  FIG. 19 . With the depth measuring nut  99  in place, the excess amount of thread coming out of the measuring nut  99  is removed (see tip portion shown in dotted lines in  FIG. 19 ). The measuring nut  99  at the other end is unscrewed and taken out. Now the partial wood strips are inserted and synchronized hole to hole with the neighboring row and the combination of free head adjuster screw  80  and the end cap nut  98  is tightened to the fasteners in the neighboring row. Installing the shoe moldings and hiding the gaps completes the process.  
         [0066]     Due to the differences in the room size, shape, angle, framing, permanently stationed objects and floor environment, this invention was designed and equipped with very versatile parts to enable one to install solid hardwood efficiently, accurately, and easily.  
         [0067]     From the foregoing description and associated drawings, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that the present invention enables one to bring the beauty and durability of solid hardwood to major commercial concrete based areas such as office spaces, restaurants, high-rises, condominiums and residential basements.  
         [0068]     By introducing this invention, one can save more natural resources or at least in the long run bring the tree cutting time and tree regeneration time to equilibrium. When installed this product is floating on a spongy foam backed moisture barrier sheet which makes the solid hardwood easier to stand on for long periods (spinal cord friendly) and provides impact resistance from falling objects.  
         [0069]     With this invention, one also does not have to worry about the same deficiencies presented by engineered hardwood, such as the warping, bowing, expansion, contraction, its short life and its detachment from concrete caused by temperature and moisture.  
         [0070]     While the foregoing invention has been shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various changes in form and detail may be made to the examples shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.