Patent ID: 7637067

Claim:
A floor panel, for forming a floor covering, said floor panel being in the form of a prefabricated parquet comprising a core material selected from the group consisting of medium density fiberboard and high density fiberboard and a top layer comprising solid wood which is thicker than veneer; said floor panel having the form of a parallelogram all of whose angles are right angles and having a top side, an underside, and first and second pairs of opposite side edges, said side edges including upper side edges adjacent the top side; said panel having coupling parts substantially in the form of a tongue part and a groove part_on the first and second pair of side edges, each groove part extending inwardly of its respective side edge, having an innermost point and being bordered by an upper lip having a distal end and by a lower lip, each tongue part extending distally from its respective side edge, said coupling parts being configured to enable two of such panels to be coupled to each other by placing the tongue part in the groove part with the upper side edges adjoining each other; said coupling parts at both pairs of side edges being provided with integrated mechanical locking elements including locking surfaces on the tongue part and the groove part, said locking surfaces contacting each other when a pair of the panels are coupled with the upper side edges of the respective panels adjoining each other at a respective side edge by placement of the tongue part of one panel into the groove part of the other panel, said locking surfaces when contacting each other preventing separation of the upper side edges of two coupled floor panels in a direction perpendicular to the respective side edges and parallel to the underside of the coupled floor panels.