Patent ID: 7559177

Claim:
A transition between two adjacent surface elements of a floor, each of the surface elements having an upper surface and joining elements disposed on edges of the surface elements, the transition comprising: a first section comprising a joining element for connecting to one surface element, the joining element comprising at least one of a tongue and groove, and locking elements for joining to a second section; and a second section comprising a joining element for connecting to a second surface element, the joining element comprising at least one of a tongue and groove, and locking elements for joining to the first section; wherein the locking elements of the first section and the second section when locked together, are configured to prevent separation of the first section and the second section in both the plane of the floor (x-axis) and transverse to the plane of the floor (y-axis), while permitting relative movement in a plane defined by the joint therebetween (z-axis); wherein the one surface element is a floor board and the second surface element is one selected from the group consisting of a hard surface reducer, carpet reducer and a stair nose reducer; and further comprising an anchor plate, affixed to a surface below the second surface element, wherein the second surface element comprises at least one of a tongue and a groove, configured to cooperate with anchor plate, wherein the anchor plate and the second surface element are configured to permit relative movement along the x-axis and z-axis, while prohibiting relative movement along the y-axis.