Patent ID: 7093399

Claim:
A floor panel comprising a hard panel, said panel having coupling profiles on at least two opposite edges thereof made in one piece with the panel, such that several of such panels may be mutually coupled to one another by said coupling profiles, said coupling profiles being configured to interlock at an interlocking zone in a direction extending perpendicular to the plane of coupled panels, as well as in a direction perpendicular to the coupled edges and parallel to the plane of coupled panels, and wherein: said coupling profiles comprising a tongue and a groove, said groove having a top side and a bottom side; an upper lip having a free distal end extending from the top side of the groove; and a bottom lip extending from the bottom side of the groove, said tongue including a distal tip; said lower lip is distally longer than the upper lip; said lower lip includes an interlocking part on a part thereof which extends distally beyond the free end of the upper lip, said interlocking part including a first inwardly facing contact surface which, when coupled, cooperates with a second contact surface which is provided on a tongue of another panel coupled therewith; said coupling profiles are configured such that similar panels can be assembled by pushing them towards one another in substantially a common plane, and wherein in the bottom side of the tongue in a portion thereof that lies between the distal tip of the tongue and the second contact surface of the tongue, a depression is provided that cooperates with an upper end of the interlocking part when the tongue is located immediately in front of an entrance to the groove, such that the insertion of the tongue distal end into the groove is facilitated without motion blocking impediment, said depression being defined by a portion of the bottom side of the tongue not constituting a coupling profile.