Raised flooring

Claim 2

A raised flooring which is composed of flooring panels laid with adjacent edges of adjacent panels abutting one another, each of said panels having a top face, an underface and opposed pairs of edges extending between said top face and said underface, at least some of said panels being composed of one piece lengthwise and widthwise of said panel, and said panels having on their undersides spaced substantially parallel battens which have been attached to said panels prior to assembly of said raised flooring, at least one of said battens having a portion which projects beyond at least one of the edges of said panels to a region along the underside of an adjacent abutting panel to provide support for the edge of said adjacent abutting panel, said battens being directly supported by props which are adjustable in height to support said panels above the actual floor of a building, the props supporting said battens at the projecting portions of said battens.

Claim 3

A raised flooring according to claims 1 in which said props comprise a threaded stem screwed into a threaded bush or nut in alignment with a hole in said batten.

Claim 4

A raised flooring according to claim 2 in which said hole extends through said batten and the end of said stem is provided with a slot for engagement with a screwdriver for adjustment of the height of said prop.

Claim 5

A raised flooring according to claim 2 in which said hole extends through the batten and the end of said stem is provided with a shaped head which can be engaged with a spanner, Allen key or the like.

Claim 6

A raised flooring according to claim 1 which is supported by a prop arrangement consisting of transverse beams on which said batteNs rest, said beams being in turn supported by props.

Claim 7

A raised flooring according to claim 1 further comprising removable access panels provided in on at least one of said flooring panels.

Claim 8

A raised flooring according to claim 6 further comprising at least one spring clip which temporarily retains said access panel in position, each of said spring clips consisting of a small metal plate attached to an adjacent edge and having resilient flaps which bite into and retain said access panel until a flat plate or the like is inserted to bend them clear of said access panel.

Claim 9

A raised flooring according to claim 1 in which at least one panel is free for removal so constituting an access panel.

Claim 10

A raised flooring comprising flooring panels laid side by side with adjacent edges abutting one another, and height-adjustable props supporting said panels above the actual floor of the building, in which in one direction across said floor there are identical adjacent repeating rectangular panels composed of one piece lengthwise and widthwise of said panel, said panels having top faces and underfaces and having on their underfaces spaced substantially parallel battens which are parallel to said one direction across said floor and which are attached to said panels prior to assembly of said raised flooring, one end of each batten projecting past one edge of each of said panels while the other end of each batten stops short of the opposite edge of each of said panels by an amount equal to that by which one end of each batten projects past said one edge of said panel, so that one edge of one panel rests on and is supported by said parts of said battens projecting past said opposite edge of an adjacent panel, each panel further comprising a ledge on which an adjacent panel can rest, said ledge being defined by a part of a batten which overlaps one edge of said panel which is parallel to said batten, and in which in a transverse direction across said floor at right angles to said one direction said flooring consists of alternating panels of the type having said battens and other panels which rest on and are supported by said ledges, said props directly supporting said battens at said projecting parts and in turn supporting said raised flooring.

Claim 11

A raised flooring comprising flooring panels laid side by side with adjacent edges abutting one another, and height-adjustable props supporting said panels above the actual floor of the building, in which in one direction across said floor there are identical adjacent repeating rectangular panels composed of one piece lengthwise and widthwise of said panel, said panels having top faces and underfaces and having on their underfaces spaced substantially parallel battens which are parallel to said one direction across said floor and which are attached to said panels prior to assembly of said raised flooring, one end of each batten projecting past one edge of each of said panels while the other end of each batten stops short of the opposite edge of each of said panels by an amount equal to that by which one end of each batten projects past said one edge of said panel, so that one edge of one panel rests on and is supported by said parts of said battens projecting past said opposite edge of an adjacent panel, each panel further comprising a ledge on which an adjacent panel can rest, said ledge being defined by a part of a batten which overlaps one edge of said panel which is parallel to said batten, and in which in a transverse direction across said floor at right angles to said one direction said flooring consists of alternating panels of the type having said battens and other panels which rest on and are supported by said ledges, said props directly supporting said battens at said projecting parts and in turn supporting said raised flooring.

Claim 12

A raised flooring comprising a number of identical flooring panels laid side by side and end to end to complete the surface of said flooring, and height-adjustable props for supporting said panels above the actual floor of the building, in which said panels are composed of one piece lengthwise and widthwise of said panel, said panels having top faces and underfaces and having on their underfaces spaced substantially parallel battens which are attached to said panels prior to assembly of said raised flooring, one end of each batten projecting past one edge of each of said panels, while the other end of each batten stops short of the opposite edge of each of said panels by an amount equal to that by which said one end of said batten projects past said one edge of said panels, so that the edge of each panel rests on and is supported by said parts of said batten projecting past said opposite edge of an adjacent panel and in which each panel further comprises a ledge on which an adjacent panel rests, said ledge being defined by a part of a batten which overlaps one edge of said panel which is parallel to said batten, said props directly supporting said battens at said projecting parts and in turn supporting said raised flooring.

Claim 13

A raised flooring comprising a number of identical flooring panels laid side by side and end to end to complete the surface of said flooring, and height-adjustable props for supporting said panels above the actual floor of the building, in which said panels are composed of one piece lengthwise and widthwise of said panel, said panels having top faces and underfaces and having on their underfaces spaced substantially parallel battens which are attached to said panels prior to assembly of said raised flooring, one end of each batten projecting past one edge of each of said panels, while the other end of each batten stops short of the opposite edge of each of said panels by an amount equal to that by which said one end of said batten projects past said one edge of said panels, so that the edge of each panel rests on and is supported by said parts of said batten projecting past said opposite edge of an adjacent panel and in which each panel further comprises a ledge on which an adjacent panel rests, said ledge being defined by a part of a batten which overlaps one edge of said panel which is parallel to said batten, said props directly supporting said battens at said projecting parts and in turn supporting said raised flooring.

Claim 14

A substantially flat flooring panel for use with raised flooring of the type supported by props having vertically extending threaded stems, said panel having a top face, an underface, a number of substantially parallel spaced battens attached to said underface, said panel being composed of one piece lengthwise and widthwise of the panel, said battens being substantially parallel to one opposed pair of edges of said panel and extending uninterruptedly over a major part of one dimension of said panEl so as to strengthen said panel, at least one of said battens having projecting parts which project beyond at least one edge of said panel to a region along the underside of an adjacent abutting panel to provide a support for said adjacent abutting panel, said at least one of said battens having threaded attachment means at said projecting parts for engaging said threaded stems of said props to support said panel above the actual floor of a building.

Claim 15

A substantially flat flooring panel for use with raised flooring of the type supported by props having vertically extending threaded stems, said panel having a top face, an underface, a number of substantially parallel spaced battens attached to said underface, said panel being composed of one piece lengthwise and widthwise of the panel, said battens being substantially parallel to one opposed pair of edges of said panel and extending uninterruptedly over a major part of one dimension of said panEl so as to strengthen said panel, at least one of said battens having projecting parts which project beyond at least one edge of said panel to a region along the underside of an adjacent abutting panel to provide a support for said adjacent abutting panel, said at least one of said battens having threaded attachment means at said projecting parts for engaging said threaded stems of said props to support said panel above the actual floor of a building.

Claim 16

A flooring panel according to claim 11 in which said screwed portion comprises a threaded bush in alignment with a hole extending completely through said batten.

Claim 17

A flooring panel according to claim 12 in which at least one of said battens has a projecting part which projects beyond an edge of the panel to provide a support for an adjacent abutting panel while the other end of each batten stops short of the opposite edge of said panel by an amount equal to that by which the other end projects past said opposite edge of said panel.

Claim 18

A flooring panel according to claim 11 in which one edge of said opposed pairs of edges has a tongue and said other edge of said opposed pair of edges has a corresponding groove, so that when identical panels are laid side by side, said tongue of one panel projects into said groove of an adjacent panel so as to keep said top faces of adjacent panels in the same plane.

Claim 19

A flooring panel according to claim 11 in which one edge of each of said opposed pairs of edges has a tongue and said other edge of each of said opposed pairs of edges has a corresponding groove.

Claim 20

A panel according to claim 11 further comprising a ledge on which an adjacent panel can rest, said ledge being defined by a part of a batten which overlaps one edge of said panel parallel to said batten.

Claim 21

A flooring panel according to claim 16 in which one edge of said opposed pairs of edges has a tongue and said other edge of said opposed pair of edges has a corresponding groove, so that when identical panels are laid side by side, said tongue of one panel projects into said groove of an adjacent panel so as to keep said top faces of adjacent panels in the same plane.

Claim 22

A flooring panel according to claim 16 in which one edge of each of said opposed pairs of edges has a tongue and said other edge of each of said opposed pairs of edges has a corresponding groove.

Claim 23

A flooring panel according to claim 16 in which one end of each of said battens projects past one edge of said panel while the other end of each batten stops short of the opposite edge of said panel by an amount equal to that by which the other end projects past said opposite edge of said panel.