Awi Licensing Company

Armstrong World Industries, Inc.

Afi Licensing LLC

Michael E Buckwalter

Kean M Anspach

John R Eshbach, Jr

Richard H Balmer

Heath Harrington

William J Kauffman

James F Mathis

Dung V Dao

Charles H Hines

Michael T Pham

Lynn M Wise

Shih Chung Lee

Edwin J Quinn

Richard M Ringer

Brent L Stoll

Manuel A Velez

Christopher R Knafelc

A floor panel and a floating floor system incorporating the floor panel include a floor panel having a top layer and a bottom layer. The top layer has a top surface and a bottom surface. The top surface has a visible decorative pattern. The bottom layer has a top surface and a bottom surface. The top surface of the bottom layer is adhered to the bottom surface of the top layer such that the bottom layer is offset from the top layer in a direction of length and width and a marginal end portion of the top surface of the bottom layer and a marginal end portion of the bottom surface of the top layer is exposed. At least one of the marginal end portions has an adhesive, and a ratio of a thickness of the top layer to a thickness of the bottom layer is about 5 or greater.

Floor panel and floating floor system incorporating the same

A transition strip is used to install, replace, and repair a floor panel in a floating floor system in accordance with the invention. The transition strip may be a film or tape that may comprise plastic, vinyl, polyvinyl chloride, polyester, polyolefin, or nylon.

Method of replacing a floor panel using transition strips

An easy-to-install and remove flooring system comprises three components: 1) a plurality of rolled-out liners, 2) a plurality of tiles, particularly resilient tiles, and 3) an adhesive adhering the tile to the liner. A grid pattern matching the size of the tiles is printed on the liner to enable easy centering and balancing of the tile in the room. The edge portions of adjacent liners are adjacent or overlapped. At least some of the tiles are adhered to two of the liners.

Easy to install and remove tile system

A method of making a floor panel includes the steps of: providing an adhesive on a release member; laminating or marrying the release member to a bottom layer such that the adhesive is between the release member and the bottom layer; removing a portion of the release member to expose an area of the adhesive; and adhering a top layer to the area such that the top layer is offset with respect to the bottom layer in a direction of length and width and a marginal end portion of a top surface of the bottom layer and a marginal end portion of the bottom surface of the top layer is exposed.

Method of making a floor panel

A transition strip is used to install, replace, and repair a floor panel in a floating floor system. The transition strip is a film or tape that comprises plastic, vinyl, polyvinyl chloride, polyester, polyolefin, or nylon. The transition strip can be used to repair a floor panel by removing at least one of the floor panels in the floating floor system to form an opening therein. The transition strip is positioned in the opening such that a portion of a top side of the transition strip adheres to a bottom surface of a bottom layer of at least one floor panel adjacent the opening and a portion of a top side of the transition strip extends into the opening. A bottom surface of a bottom layer of a replacement floor panel is then adhered to the portion of the transition strip extending into the opening.

Transition strip for floor panel and method of installation, replacement, and repair using the same

A packaging system and a method of packaging a plurality of floor panels in a box includes floor panels having a top layer and a bottom layer. The top layer has a top surface with a visible decorative pattern and a bottom surface adhered to a top surface of the bottom layer such that the bottom layer is offset from the top layer in a direction of length and width and a marginal end portion of the top surface of the bottom layer and a marginal end portion of the bottom surface of the top layer is exposed. At least one of the marginal end portions has an adhesive. The floor panels are stacked in the box in pairs. Each of the pairs is stacked such that the top surfaces of the top layers of each of the pairs of the floor panels are facing each other.

Packaging system for a floor panel

A preglued underlayment assembly comprises a substantially rigid underlayment having an upper and a lower surface, a pressure sensitive adhesive layer disposed on the upper surface, and a release layer disposed on the adhesive layer. Another pressure sensitive adhesive layer and another release layer optionally are provided on the lower surface of the preglued underlayment. One or more performance enhancing layers, such as foam and solid layers, can be disposed between the underlayment and the adhesive layer to modify and/or enhance various properties of the preglued underlayment. Mechanical fasteners, such as staples, penetrate the preglued underlayment assembly and engage a structural support member to attach the preglued underlayment assembly thereto. A method of installing a surface covering over a structural support member utilizing the preglued underlayment assembly includes providing at least one preglued underlayment assembly made in accordance with the present invention, positioning the at least one preglued underlayment assembly on the structural support member, fastening the at least one preglued underlayment assembly to the structural support member, removing the release layer from the at least one preglued underlayment, and placing and pressing the surface covering onto the adhesive layer of the at least one preglued underlayment. The preglued underlayment assembly is fastened to the structural support member by the mechanical fasteners. Each mechanical fastener has a crown, and the crown is recessed within the preglued underlayment assembly to provide a substantially protrusion free surface covering.

Method of installing a floor covering underlayment composite over a subfloor

Preglued underlayment composite and associated flooring installation system

Vinyl heat welding rod for seam sealing vinyl resilient flooring, whether in sheet or tile form, are used to obtain a homogeneous, monolithic appearing surface. This rod is specifically made to duplicate the appearance of the flooring material. For a chip-image flooring structure, a sheet of multicolored chips having a similar, but different formulation from that of the flooring material is prepared and the sheet is cut into suitable strips, heat pressed in a rod mold, end adhered or further molded to form the desired length, and used as a vinyl heat welding rod for sealing seams in flooring. Thus, the chip pattern is evident in the seam area and does not appear different when compared to the adjacent surface.

Growing community of inventors

New Providence, PA, United States of America

Michael E Buckwalter