Patent ID: 7451578

Claim:
A fastening system for rectangular, tabular panels, each of said panels having four small faces with two opposite small faces defining a first set of opposite small faces, the remaining two opposite small faces defining a second set of opposite small faces, said fastening system comprising retaining profiles located on said small faces of each of said panels, of which the retaining profiles on opposite sides of said panels correspond in such a manner that similar panels can be interconnected, wherein the retaining profiles on said first set of opposite small faces are designed as first retaining profiles, and the retaining profiles on said second set of opposite small faces are designed as second retaining profiles, such that on a first of said panels installed in a first row, a second of said panels is locked in a second row by first attaching a first retaining profile of said second panel to a corresponding first retaining profile on said first panel at a temporary angle relative to said first panel and then swiveling the second panel down into the plane of the first panel, the second retaining profiles of said panels including corresponding hook elements each comprising a protruding portion such that a hook connection is established by means of one of the hook elements of a third panel and a corresponding hook element of said second of said panels already installed in said second row by swiveling down said third panel, one of the second retaining profiles having a horizontally oriented locking groove for housing a locking element, said horizontally oriented locking groove having an opening arranged within a planar surface of the second retaining profiles such that, in the installed state of said panels, said planar surface is aligned approximately perpendicular to the plane in which the panels are installed, and a vertically oriented groove for receiving the protruding portion of the hook element of the other of the second retaining profiles, said vertically oriented groove being separate from and not connected to said horizontally oriented locking groove, the locking element having a resilient flexible projecting portion which extends outward and beyond the opening of the horizontally oriented locking groove, and the other of the second retaining profiles having a horizontally oriented locking groove for receiving the resilient flexible projecting portion during installation of said panels.