Flooring comprising adjoining plastics elements

Claim 2

Flooring which comprises: a plurality of adjoining perforate generally planar plastic elements, each of said elements including first means connecting and locking together adjacent elements, said first means being formed in the material of each element during the moulding thereof, said first means including depending pawls which are selectively engageable with an adjacent element, said pawls being disposed on each of said elements to engage automatically on interconnection of adjacent elements, each of said elements further including second means to terminate the interlocked condition of adjacent elements, said second means to terminate including third means to shift said pawl, said second means to terminate being accessible from the upper surface of said flooring.

Claim 3

Flooring which comprises: a plurality of adjoining perforate generally planar plastic elements, each of said elements including first means connecting and locking together adjacent elements, said first means being formed in the material of each element during the moulding thereof, said first means including depending pawls which are selectively engageable with an adjacent element, said pawls being disposed on each of said elements to engage automatically on interconnection of adjacent elements, wherein each of said elements includes depending members to maintain most of said element in spaced relationship from an associated supporting surface, the lower parts of said elements forming a system of interconnecting ducts which are in fluid communication with each other and with the perforations in said elements.

Claim 4

Flooring which comprises: a plurality of adjoining perforate generally planar plastic elements, each of said elements including first means connecting and locking together adjacent elements, said first means being formed in the material of each element during the moulding thereof, said first means including depending pawls which are selectively engageable with an adjacent element, said pawls being disposed on each of said elements to engage automatically on interconnection of adjacent elements, wherein each of said elements includes depending members to maintain most of said element in spaced relationship from an associated supporting surface, the lower parts of said elements forming a system of interconnecting ducts which are in fluid communication with each other and with the perforations in said elements.

Claim 5

Flooring as claimed in claim 2 wherein said perforations in said generally planar surface of each element are uniformly distributed over the entire surface area thereof and collectively comprise at least 10 percent of the area thereof, said perforations having openings having a cross-section with such dimensions that no circle with a diameter larger than 2 mm. can be defined therein.