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<ep-patent-document id="EP12178966A1" file="EP12178966NWA1.xml" lang="en" country="EP" doc-number="2692962" kind="A1" date-publ="20140205" status="n" dtd-version="ep-patent-document-v1-4">
<SDOBI lang="en"><B000><eptags><B001EP>ATBECHDEDKESFRGBGRITLILUNLSEMCPTIESILTLVFIROMKCYALTRBGCZEEHUPLSKBAHRIS..MTNORSMESM..................</B001EP><B005EP>J</B005EP><B007EP>DIM360 Ver 2.40 (30 Jan 2013) -  1100000/0</B007EP></eptags></B000><B100><B110>2692962</B110><B120><B121>EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION</B121></B120><B130>A1</B130><B140><date>20140205</date></B140><B190>EP</B190></B100><B200><B210>12178966.3</B210><B220><date>20120802</date></B220><B250>en</B250><B251EP>en</B251EP><B260>en</B260></B200><B400><B405><date>20140205</date><bnum>201406</bnum></B405><B430><date>20140205</date><bnum>201406</bnum></B430></B400><B500><B510EP><classification-ipcr sequence="1"><text>E04F  15/10        20060101AFI20130326BHEP        </text></classification-ipcr></B510EP><B540><B541>de</B541><B542>Kunststoffbodenfliese</B542><B541>en</B541><B542>Plastics floor tiles</B542><B541>fr</B541><B542>Dalles de sol en plastique</B542></B540><B590><B598>3</B598></B590></B500><B700><B710><B711><snm>Chang, Hsuan-Hao</snm><iid>101326645</iid><irf>P00330EP</irf><adr><str>Room 1112, A Building 
Hua Kai Square 
Yuan Mei Road 
Nancheng District</str><city>Dongguan City, Guangdong 523000</city><ctry>CN</ctry></adr></B711></B710><B720><B721><snm>Chang, Hsuan-Hao</snm><adr><str>Room 1112, A Building 
Hua Kai Square 
Yuan Mei Road 
Nancheng District</str><city>Dongguan City, Guangdong 523000</city><ctry>CN</ctry></adr></B721></B720><B740><B741><snm>Baldwin, Mark</snm><sfx>et al</sfx><iid>101074153</iid><adr><str>Firebird IP 
40 Bowling Green Lane</str><city>London EC1R 0NE</city><ctry>GB</ctry></adr></B741></B740></B700><B800><B840><ctry>AL</ctry><ctry>AT</ctry><ctry>BE</ctry><ctry>BG</ctry><ctry>CH</ctry><ctry>CY</ctry><ctry>CZ</ctry><ctry>DE</ctry><ctry>DK</ctry><ctry>EE</ctry><ctry>ES</ctry><ctry>FI</ctry><ctry>FR</ctry><ctry>GB</ctry><ctry>GR</ctry><ctry>HR</ctry><ctry>HU</ctry><ctry>IE</ctry><ctry>IS</ctry><ctry>IT</ctry><ctry>LI</ctry><ctry>LT</ctry><ctry>LU</ctry><ctry>LV</ctry><ctry>MC</ctry><ctry>MK</ctry><ctry>MT</ctry><ctry>NL</ctry><ctry>NO</ctry><ctry>PL</ctry><ctry>PT</ctry><ctry>RO</ctry><ctry>RS</ctry><ctry>SE</ctry><ctry>SI</ctry><ctry>SK</ctry><ctry>SM</ctry><ctry>TR</ctry></B840><B844EP><B845EP><ctry>BA</ctry></B845EP><B845EP><ctry>ME</ctry></B845EP></B844EP></B800></SDOBI>
<abstract id="abst" lang="en">
<p id="pa01" num="0001">An improved plastic floor tile assembly structure (10), which includes a rectangular floor tile body, the first two adjacent sides of the floor body having a male buckle formation (20) and the second two adjacent sides having a female buckle body formation (30), a buckling slot is provided in between the inner side wall (21, 31)of the male buckle and the female buckle, and the inner side wall of the floor body, said inner side wall of the male and female buckle is slanted in a direction away from the inner side wall of the floor body, and the inner side wall of the floor body having an adhesive layer (40), with this structural characteristics the floor assembly between two floor bodies becomes more simple and convenient, it not only provides the more robust assembly, but also eliminate uneven assembly surface, and at the same time, improve the aesthetic appearance of the assembly.
<img id="iaf01" file="imgaf001.tif" wi="131" he="61" img-content="drawing" img-format="tif"/></p>
</abstract>
<description id="desc" lang="en"><!-- EPO <DP n="1"> -->
<heading id="h0001">FIELD OF THE INVENTION</heading>
<p id="p0001" num="0001">This invention relates to building decoration materials, in particular, it relates to plastic tiles for covering floors.</p>
<heading id="h0002">BACKGROUND OF INVENTION</heading>
<p id="p0002" num="0002">Known flooring tiles include ceramic tiles, PVC tiles and wood tiles. When laying these tiles preparations are needed beforehand, such as levelling the ground and smearing or skimming cement or glue on the ground. These preparation works can sometimes become tedious and too time consuming. Hence, the industry has developed various floor tiles with mechanical assembly features.</p>
<p id="p0003" num="0003"><figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref> shows an existing floor tile with mechanical assembly features. The floor tile comprises a tile body 01. Two adjacent sides of the tile 01 are provided with a male buckle body 02 and the other two adjacent sides of the tile 01 are provided with a female buckle body 03. A slot is formed between the inner side walls of male buckle 02 and female buckle 03 and the facing side walls of the tile body 01. The base of the slot is provided with an adhesive layer 04. When assembling two such floor tiles, the male buckle of one of floor tile is mated with the female buckle of another floor tile. Because the buckle structure forms a vertical contact plane, which minimizes surface friction, the assembled structure does not prove to be as solid as it can possibly be.</p>
<heading id="h0003">SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION</heading>
<p id="p0004" num="0004">It is an object of the invention to provide an improved plastic floor assembly structure with rigid assembled characteristics and a better aesthetic appearance.</p>
<p id="p0005" num="0005">An additional, or alternative, object of the invention is to provide an alternative<!-- EPO <DP n="2"> --> to existing products on the market.</p>
<p id="p0006" num="0006">The invention provides a plastics floor tile as specified in claim 1.</p>
<p id="p0007" num="0007">The invention also provides a plastics floor tile as specified in claim 3.</p>
<p id="p0008" num="0008">The structural characteristics of the plastics floor tile can make assembling of two floor tiles simpler and more convenient and provide a more robust assembly. Also, an uneven floor surface can be avoided and an improved aesthetic appearance obtained.</p>
<heading id="h0004">BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS</heading>
<p id="p0009" num="0009">
<ul id="ul0001" list-style="none" compact="compact">
<li><figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref> is an illustration of known plastics tile;</li>
<li><figref idref="f0001">Figure 2</figref> is an illustration of an embodiment of a plastics floor tile of the present invention; and</li>
<li><figref idref="f0001">Figure 3</figref> is an illustration of an assembly of plastics floor tiles of the present invention.</li>
</ul></p>
<heading id="h0005">DETAILED DESCRIPTION</heading>
<p id="p0010" num="0010">As shown in <figref idref="f0001">Figures 3</figref>, a plastics floor tile comprises a rectangular floor tile body 10. The first two adjacent sides of the floor tile body 10 are provided with a male buckle body 20 and the other two adjacent sides of the floor tile body 10 are provided with a female buckle body 30. A slot is formed between the inner side walls 21, 31 of the male and female buckle bodies 20, 30 and the facing side walls (peripheral walls) of the floor tile body 10. The inner side walls 21, 31 are slanted away from the side walls of the floor tile body 10. An adhesive layer 40 is applied to the side walls of the tile body 10. As shown in <figref idref="f0001">Figure 3</figref>, two of the plastics floor tiles can be joined together by mating a male buckle body 20 of one tile with the female buckle body 30 of the other tile.<!-- EPO <DP n="3"> --> The tip of the male buckle body 20 and female buckle body 30 forms an arcuate lead-in shape.</p>
<p id="p0011" num="0011">In the illustrated embodiment the inner side walls 21, 31 have a connected end that is at the base of the respective slots defined between the male and female buckle bodies 20, 30 and the facing side walls of the tile body 10 and a free end. The connected end of the inner side walls 21, 31 is laterally spaced from the facing sidewall of the tile body by a first distance and the laterally spacing of the free end is a second distance that is greater than the first distance.</p>
<p id="p0012" num="0012">While the invention has been described in terms of embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the scope of the appended claims.</p>
</description>
<claims id="claims01" lang="en"><!-- EPO <DP n="4"> -->
<claim id="c-en-0001" num="0001">
<claim-text>A plastics floor tile comprising a rectangular tile body (10), wherein: a first two adjacent sides of the tile body (10) are provided with a male buckle body (20) projecting from the first two adjacent sides and the second two adjacent sides of the floor body (10) are provided with a female buckle body (30) projecting from the second two adjacent sides; a slot is formed between respective inner side walls (21, 31) of the male and female buckle bodies and said sides of the floor tile body (10); said inner side walls (21, 31) slant away from said sides of the floor tile body (10); an adhesive layer (40) is applied to said sides of the tile body (10); and the configuration is such that two said plastics tiles can be joined together by mating t a said male buckle body (20) of one tile with a said female buckle body(30) side of the other tile.</claim-text></claim>
<claim id="c-en-0002" num="0002">
<claim-text>A plastics floor tile as claimed in claim 1 ,wherein respecitive tips of the male and female buckle bodies (20, 30) form an arc shape.</claim-text></claim>
<claim id="c-en-0003" num="0003">
<claim-text>A plastics floor tile comprising a rectangular body (10) having four peripheral walls, respective male coupling elements (20) projecting from two adjacent said peripheral walls, respective female coupling elements (30) projecting from the other two said peripheral walls and respective adhesive layers (40) on said peripheral walls, wherein respective coupling element receiving slots are defined between said male and female coupling elements (20, 30) and the respective peripheral walls from which said male and female coupling elements project and the male and female coupling elements each have an inner side wall (21, 31) that faces and is inclined with respect to the said peripheral wall from which the coupling element projects.</claim-text></claim>
<claim id="c-en-0004" num="0004">
<claim-text>A plastics floor tile as claimed in claim 3, wherein said inner side walls (21, 31) have a connected end disposed at a base of the respective coupling element<!-- EPO <DP n="5"> --> slot and a free end and the connected end is laterally spaced from the respective peripheral side wall a first distance and said free end is laterally spaced from the respective peripheral side wall a second distance that is greater than said first distance.</claim-text></claim>
<claim id="c-en-0005" num="0005">
<claim-text>A plastics floor tile as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein said inner side walls (21, 31) are configured to define a curved lead-in to the respective said coupling element receiving slots.</claim-text></claim>
</claims>
<drawings id="draw" lang="en"><!-- EPO <DP n="6"> -->
<figure id="f0001" num="1,2,3"><img id="if0001" file="imgf0001.tif" wi="165" he="196" img-content="drawing" img-format="tif"/></figure>
</drawings>
<search-report-data id="srep" lang="en" srep-office="EP" date-produced=""><doc-page id="srep0001" file="srep0001.tif" wi="161" he="233" type="tif"/><doc-page id="srep0002" file="srep0002.tif" wi="158" he="233" type="tif"/></search-report-data><search-report-data date-produced="20130315" id="srepxml" lang="en" srep-office="EP" srep-type="ep-sr" status="n"><!--
 The search report data in XML is provided for the users' convenience only. It might differ from the search report of the PDF document, which contains the officially published data. The EPO disclaims any liability for incorrect or incomplete data in the XML for search reports.
 -->

<srep-info><file-reference-id>P00330EP</file-reference-id><application-reference><document-id><country>EP</country><doc-number>12178966.3</doc-number></document-id></application-reference><applicant-name><name>Chang, Hsuan-Hao</name></applicant-name><srep-established srep-established="yes"/><srep-invention-title title-approval="yes"/><srep-abstract abs-approval="yes"/><srep-figure-to-publish figinfo="by-applicant"><figure-to-publish><fig-number>3</fig-number></figure-to-publish></srep-figure-to-publish><srep-info-admin><srep-office><addressbook><text>MN</text></addressbook></srep-office><date-search-report-mailed><date>20130403</date></date-search-report-mailed></srep-info-admin></srep-info><srep-for-pub><srep-fields-searched><minimum-documentation><classifications-ipcr><classification-ipcr><text>E04F</text></classification-ipcr><classification-ipcr><text>E01C</text></classification-ipcr></classifications-ipcr></minimum-documentation></srep-fields-searched><srep-citations><citation id="sr-cit0001"><patcit dnum="FR2568295A1" id="sr-pcit0001" url="http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&amp;IDX=FR2568295&amp;CY=ep"><document-id><country>FR</country><doc-number>2568295</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><name>MANON GERARD [FR]</name><date>19860131</date></document-id></patcit><category>X</category><rel-claims>1,3,4</rel-claims><rel-passage><passage>* page 3, lines 8,10-12,21; claim 1; figures 1,2,3 *</passage><category>Y</category><rel-claims>2,5</rel-claims></rel-passage><rel-passage><passage>* page 2, lines 29-31,35 *</passage></rel-passage></citation><citation id="sr-cit0002"><patcit dnum="CH200949A" id="sr-pcit0002" url="http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&amp;IDX=CH200949&amp;CY=ep"><document-id><country>CH</country><doc-number>200949</doc-number><kind>A</kind><name>BAECHI FERDINAND [CH]</name><date>19381115</date></document-id></patcit><category>Y</category><rel-claims>2,5</rel-claims><rel-passage><passage>* figures 1,2 *</passage><category>A</category><rel-claims>1</rel-claims></rel-passage></citation><citation id="sr-cit0003"><patcit dnum="DE10212324A1" id="sr-pcit0003" url="http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&amp;IDX=DE10212324&amp;CY=ep"><document-id><country>DE</country><doc-number>10212324</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><name>HW IND GMBH &amp; CO KG [DE]</name><date>20031009</date></document-id></patcit><category>A</category><rel-claims>1,3,4</rel-claims><rel-passage><passage>* paragraphs [0017],  [0025],  [0026]; figure 2 *</passage></rel-passage></citation><citation id="sr-cit0004"><patcit dnum="US2011030300A1" id="sr-pcit0004" url="http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&amp;IDX=US2011030300&amp;CY=ep"><document-id><country>US</country><doc-number>2011030300</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><name>LIU DAVID C [US]</name><date>20110210</date></document-id></patcit><category>A</category><rel-claims>1-5</rel-claims><rel-passage><passage>* figures 2,3,8 *</passage></rel-passage></citation><citation id="sr-cit0005"><patcit dnum="EP2270292A1" id="sr-pcit0005" url="http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&amp;IDX=EP2270292&amp;CY=ep"><document-id><country>EP</country><doc-number>2270292</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><name>BARLINEK S A [PL]</name><date>20110105</date></document-id></patcit><category>A</category><rel-claims>1-5</rel-claims><rel-passage><passage>* paragraph [0040]; figures 17-20 *</passage></rel-passage></citation></srep-citations><srep-admin><examiners><primary-examiner><name>Bourgoin, J</name></primary-examiner></examiners><srep-office><addressbook><text>Munich</text></addressbook></srep-office><date-search-completed><date>20130315</date></date-search-completed></srep-admin><!--							The annex lists the patent family members relating to the patent documents cited in the above mentioned European search report.							The members are as contained in the European Patent Office EDP file on							The European Patent Office is in no way liable for these particulars which are merely given for the purpose of information.							For more details about this annex : see Official Journal of the European Patent Office, No 12/82						--><srep-patent-family><patent-family><priority-application><document-id><country>FR</country><doc-number>2568295</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>19860131</date></document-id></priority-application><text>NONE</text></patent-family><patent-family><priority-application><document-id><country>CH</country><doc-number>200949</doc-number><kind>A</kind><date>19381115</date></document-id></priority-application><text>NONE</text></patent-family><patent-family><priority-application><document-id><country>DE</country><doc-number>10212324</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20031009</date></document-id></priority-application><text>NONE</text></patent-family><patent-family><priority-application><document-id><country>US</country><doc-number>2011030300</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20110210</date></document-id></priority-application><text>NONE</text></patent-family><patent-family><priority-application><document-id><country>EP</country><doc-number>2270292</doc-number><kind>A1</kind><date>20110105</date></document-id></priority-application><text>NONE</text></patent-family></srep-patent-family></srep-for-pub></search-report-data>
</ep-patent-document>
