Slotted panel assembly

Claim 1

A SLOTTED FLOOR PANEL COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF CHANNELS HAVING CONVERGING SIDE FLANGES ALONG THE WEBS THEREOF, SAID CHANNELS BEING ARRANGED IN LATERALLY SPACED PARALLEL POSITIONS WITH SAID WEBS LYING IN A COMMON HORIZONTAL PLANE AND WITH SAID FLANGES EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM, SAID CHANNEL WEBS FORMING A FLOOR SURFACE AND RESPECTIVELY HAVING DOWNWARDLY OPENING SLOTS ALONG OPPOSITE EDGES THEREOF, AND AT LEAST TWO TIE-PLATES RESPECTIVELY HAVING DOVETAILS AT SPACED INTERVALS ALONG ONE EDGE THEREOF, SAID TIE-PLATES OCCUPYING POSITIONS SPACED LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID PANEL AND EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID CHANNELS WITH SAID DOVETAILS FITTED IN THE SPACES BETWEEN THE SAID CONVERGING SIDE FLANGES AND HOLDING SAID CHANNELS AGAINST MOVEMENT OUT OF SAID PARALLEL POSITIONS, EACH OF SAID DOVETAILS HAVING SIDE EDGES THAT DIVERGE UPWARDLY FROM SAID TIE-PLATE AND HAVING HOLDING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE INTERNAL SURFACES OF THE CHANNEL FLANGES DEFINING THE SAID SPACES IN WHICH SAID DOVETAILS ARE RECEIVED, SAID PANEL BEING SUPPORTED SOLELY BY CONTACT WITH AT LEAST A PAIR OF SPACED SUPPORTING SURFACES DIRECTLY ENGAGING THE FREE EDGES OF SAID FLANGES.