MXPA00003578A - Article with interlocking edges and covering product prepared therefrom - Google Patents

Abstract

An article is provided that is suitable for use in surface coverings, such as laminate floorings, wherein the article has at least one interlocking edge of a first profile and at least one interlocking edge of a second profile, the interlocking edges providing the ability to interlock adjacent articles without the need for an adhesive, and yet forming a substantially gapless seam between the articles. The articles may be joined and unjoined from each other a plurality of times without any substantial deterioration of the interlocking edge profiles.

Description

ARTICLE WITH INTERCONNECTION SHORES AND COVER PRODUCT PREPARED FROM THEMSELVES This application is a continuation in part of the application Serial No. 08 / 977,536, filed on November 25, 1997.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates to an article having interconnecting edges and its use as a cover product, particularly useful for covering flat surfaces such as floors, and very useful for preparing a floor product that is easy to install, easy to remove and easy to repair.

Discussion of the background In recent years the use of laminate products in the flooring industry as a replacement or substitute for traditional wood panel floor material has grown tremendously due to the durability and ease of care of laminate products. However, the currently available laminate floor material products often have several disadvantages. Many of the conventional laminate floor products have "tongue and groove" edges that are machined to fit one into the other. However, the conventional method for preparing these edges provides an interference fit that is bonded together, particularly in "anti-acoustic floor" systems. The type of edge interference fit, and the glue that is placed on the cutout portion of the edge must be forced to insert the corresponding edge onto a piece of the adjacent laminate. The gluing of the floor panels together is time consuming and dirty; and any glue that filters out on the floor surface must be cleaned by the installer. Due to the narrow fit, the attachment along with the laminated pieces also typically requires pressure and clamps to hold the pieces together until the glue dries at the seams. Of course, you can not walk on the floor until you stick the glue and remove the clamps. Additionally, when the pieces are joined, and the glue is forced out of the cut edge, there is no way to control the direction in which the glue will come out. This may exit either in an upward direction towards the visible surface of the floor material, causing a mess or in a downward direction to the adjacent surface below the floor. In any case it can be detrimental to both the appearance and function of the resulting floor. Additionally, for direct bonding applications the glue is placed on the lower surface of the section of the floor material to adhere it to the subfloor. Once the glue hardens, the resulting floor can be extremely difficult or impossible to repair or replace. Additionally, due to the expansion and / or contraction within the individual sections of the laminate floor material, the resulting floor may be subjected to various stresses causing distortion, bulging, etc., thereby rendering the floor aesthetically ugly. Also, some prior art methods for attaching panels of attached floor material require channels of significant size to be machined on the underside of the panels of the flooring material. This method of the prior art is described in U.S. Patent No. 5,860,267 by Pervan. This method of the prior art requires that the channels be machined on the underside of the panels at a considerable distance from the edges of the panel, and configured to accept a separate piece that connects each panel to provide a means for securing the adjacent panels. . These channels weaken the panels, increasing the manufacturing cost, and result in greater opportunity for panel sagging under the influence of moisture. A new means for fixing the individual panels of floor material, particularly in the round of the laminate floor material, is needed to overcome these disadvantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a new surface cover product that is easy to install, can be installed without glue if desired, is easy to repair and / or replace, and can be used as soon as it is installed. . A further object of the present invention is to provide a new surface cover product having a shore design that can be assembled and disassembled in a simple manner without tools or glue. Another object of the present invention is to provide a surface cover product having a substantially hydrophobic interior to provide a waterproof seam between the sections. Another object of the present invention is to provide a laminate floor material prepared from the surface cover product of the present invention. Another object of the present invention is to provide a surface cover product that can be used as floor material, wall cover, roof and / or curved surfaces.

A rectilinear finish article comprising substantially planar surfaces is disclosed. The article at least has a first interconnection edge having a first profile and at least a second interconnection edge having a second profile, the second profile being complementary to the first profile. The first profile includes a male member located between two female members, and the second profile includes a female member located between two male members. Each of the articles may be attached to a second adjacent article of similar construction causing a first interconnecting edge and a second interconnecting edge of two adjacent articles to approach each other at an angle a, where a represents an angle formed by the flat surfaces of the two articles. Next, the complementary profiles of the articles are coupled. Finally, the surfaces of the two articles are made to become coplanar to form a seam substantially without intermediate open space between the two adjacent articles. The articles can not subsequently be separated by a tension force applied in the plane of the articles and substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the seam without breaking at least one of the interconnection edges. The articles can be joined and disconnected a plurality of times without functional deterioration of the first and second interconnection edges. The rectilinear floor finish article can be installed on a flexible pad, whereby the seam effectively forms a flexible joint such that when weight is applied to the seam the articles will rotate slightly around the joint as the seam Seam is slightly depressed towards the flexible pad. The flexible joint is constructed to avoid any damage occurring to the first and second interconnection edges as a result of the rotation of the articles under the applied weight.

The aforementioned male member of the first profile can be configured to project outwardly from the first interconnection edge and upward toward the plane of the top surface of the articles. The first profile may further include a concavity on the first interconnecting edge located between the upper surface and a proximal end of the male member of the first profile. The second profile may further include a male upper member on the second interconnecting edge located between the upper surface and the female member of the second profile. The upper male member of the second interconnecting edge may have a convex distal end. The coupling of these complementary profiles forms a rotating joint in which the convex distal end of the upper male member of the second interconnection edge is seated in the concavity of the first interconnection edge, the rotary joint being responsible for turning around the seam when it is under pressure from above. Also disclosed is an interconnection end profile configuration, which includes a first interconnection end having a first end profile, a second interconnection profile having a second end profile, the second end profile being substantially complementary to the first end profile . The first end profile includes a male member located between two female members, and the second end profile includes a female member located between two male members. The first end profile includes a notched surface on the first male member which faces upwards and outwards. The second end profile includes a notched surface on the second upper male member which faces downward and outward. The first interconnecting end of a first article can be coupled with the second interconnecting end of a third article of similar construction by sliding a first article along the longitudinal axis of a seam of the interconnected edge previously coupled, engaging the complementary end profiles of the articles, and snapping the complementary end profiles together to form an end seam substantially without intermediate open space. The flat surfaces of the articles can be formed by laminating a finishing material on a central core. The core can be made of a material selected from the group consisting of agglomerate, solid polymeric materials and foamed polymeric materials. The core can also be made of a hydrophobic polymer, or a foamed polyvinyl chloride, polyacrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene (ABS), polyamide, or high impact polystyrene (HIPS). The foamed polymer material has a density reduction of 0 to 50%. The upper decorative flat surface may be a high pressure decorative laminate, polymeric finishing material, wood veneer, or any other decorative finishing material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the accompanying advantages thereof will be readily obtained as it becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1A shows a modality of the interconnection profiles of the lateral edges of the present invention. Figure 1 B shows the preliminary coupling of the interconnection profiles of Figure 1A. Figure 1 C shows the final coupling of the interconnection profiles of Figure 1A.

Figure 2B shows an embodiment of the interconnection profiles of the end edges of the present invention. Figure 2B shows the preliminary coupling of the interconnection profiles of Figure 2A. Figure 2C shows the final coupling of the interconnection profiles of Figure 2A. Figure 3A shows the engagement of the lateral edges of the adjacent floor panels incorporating the present invention. Figure 3B shows the coupling of the end edges of the adjacent floor panels incorporating the present invention. Figure 4A shows the interconnection profiles of the lateral edge of Figure 1 C as they are installed on a flexible pad. Figure 4B shows how the embodiment of Figure 3A reacts when subjected to pressure from above.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITIES The article of the present invention can be made of a uniform material, such as wood, plastic, etc., or it can comprise a central core having upper and lower surface of a different material than that of the central core, as well as a plurality of Shore surfaces around its periphery. The surface layers may be a high pressure decorative laminate, solid finish sheet, wood veneer, or solid finish laminate (such as that described in United States Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 899,118); or any other conventional decorative layer that can be attached to a central core. Preferably, the upper surface is a layer of the high pressure decorative laminate, and the lower surface is a laminated backing. The layers of the upper and lower surface may be of the same or different materials. Decorative layers can be formed from a variety of materials. Suitable materials for the decorative layers include, but are not limited to, conventional high-pressure decorative laminate (made from layers of kraft paper impregnated with melamine formaldehyde), wood veneers, or conventional laminates of solid polymeric finish. The decorative layers can be joined to the core using conventional means, such as adhesives, or by coextrusion of the core and decorative layers, either with or without a tie layer. Whether or not the core forms the total article, the core can be prepared from wood, wood-based products such as agglomerate board (such as high density chip board), polymeric materials, etc. Suitable polymeric materials include, but are not limited to, rigid and thermal hardening thermoplastics, as well as more flexible elastomers and rubbers. When the article of the present invention is to be used to form a surface covering for a curved surface (either concave or convex), the article is preferably made from one of these more flexible materials in order to conform more exact to the curved surface. The core of the present product can be formed from a variety of materials, such as wood or wood-based products, plastics, metals, etc. In order to increase the maximum in waterproof and dimensional stability over time, it is preferred to make the core from a plastic, more preferably from a hydrophobic polymer. Suitable hydrophobic polymers include polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyolefins, etc. The core is most preferably prepared from a foamed hydrophobic polymer, such as an ABS, HIPS; or polyvinyl chloride foam, having a preferred density reduction of 0 to 50%, more preferably 20 to 40% density reduction, most preferably about 30% density reduction. Within the context of the present invention the term "density reduction" is defined as the percentage by which the density of the foam is less than the density of the non-foamed polymer comprising the foam. The use of the hydrophobic polymer foam of the present invention provides both improved waterproof seam properties as well as ease of handling due to the light weight of the foam. A polymeric core can be formed by any conventional process, including but not limited to, molding, casting, extruding, etc. When a core is made from an agglomerate board or an agglomerate board composition, the core can be prepared by any conventional process. When the article is a piece of solid wood, the article can be prepared by conventional woodworking techniques, while the profile of the edge is prepared to meet the requirements of the invention. The profile of the edges of the laminate floor material of the present invention can be formed by tracing, cutting, etc., as necessary. In addition, when the core is made from a polymeric material, the profile of the edges can be made by cutting, or it can be formed by extruding the core with the intact profiles. As shown in Figure 1A, the article of the present invention can have a substantially flat upper and lower surface, with at least one first interconnection edge having a first profile and at least one second interconnection edge having a second profile, wherein the first profile and the second period are complementary to each other and are located on opposite sides of each other. The edges are formed in such a way that two articles can be joined together along the complementary profiles as shown in Figures 1A to 1C, the first edge profile of a first article approaching the second edge profile of a second. article from a ce angle, as shown in Figure 1B. The first profile is incorporated in article 10, and has a first male member 11, first female upper member 12, and first lower female member 13. The second profile is incorporated in article 20 and has a second female member 21, second male upper member 22, and second lower male member 23. The first male member 11 is slightly tapered towards its distal end to provide unrestricted insertion in the female member 21, as shown in Figure 1 B. Once the member 11 is placed within the member 21, the article 20 is lowered such that the surface of the two articles 10 and 20 become substantially coplanar. The edge profile of each article is formed in a pattern such that upon engagement of the coupling, as shown in Figure 1C, the seam between the two articles is substantially without intermediate open space. The interconnection is sufficient to avoid the separation of the two adjacent articles when the application of a tension force on the articles occurs along a vector parallel to the surfaces and perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the seam, without breaking one or both of the shore profiles. The edge profiles are also formed to provide an approach angle to, as shown in Figure 1 B, from 10 to 45 degrees, preferably from 10 to 20 degrees, most preferably from 15 to 18 degrees. Although the articles 10 and 20 can not be broken by tension as described above, it is preferable that the complementary profiles are configured in such a way that a recessed seam allows the joined articles 10 and 20 to slide relative to each other in a parallel direction to the longitudinal axis of the seam, for the reasons that will be described below. A preferred embodiment would also include first and second end profiles, as shown in articles 30 and 40 in Figures 2A to 2C. The end profiles are configured substantially the same as the edge profiles shown in Figures 1A to 1C, with the exception that the first profile has an upward and outward facing surface 31 with notches in the first male member 32 and second profile has a downward and outwardly facing surface 41 with notches in the second upper male member 42. This configuration allows these ends to be joined together by sliding the article 30, which has been pre-embedded with the adjacent articles along from its edge, forward and pushing its end periphery towards the end profile of article 40 to press fit the first and second end profiles together in place. As the surfaces 31 and 41 move toward each other and engagement begins, the surface 41 jumps upwardly on the surface 31. As the surface 41 jumps more and more on the surface 31, a point is reached where the first point 33 and second point 43 ride in and on one of the other. This action requires a given amount of compression force, both in the horizontal and vertical directions. Members 32 and 42 must flex to some degree to allow points 33 and 43 to mount one over the other, but once this takes place, members 32 and 42 close back to their original positions and items 30 and 40 they are pulled towards each other. This is due to the fact that the point 33 is greater than the point 43, which causes the member 32 to mount up in the cavity below the member 42 Substantially all the materials used to make the articles of the present invention have sufficient flexibility to provide this quick coupling of the end profiles described above. These end profiles can not be broken by pulling pulling the parts in opposite directions without the breaking of the profiles due to the interconnection configuration of the profiles. Figures 3A and 3B show how a plurality of the articles embodying the present invention can be placed together to form, for example, a floor. Figure 3A shows how a border of an article 50 would be rotatably coupled to adjacent articles 51 and 52, as described above with respect to Figures 1A to 1C. Figure 3B shows how one end of an article 50 would be slidably coupled to one end of an adjacent article 53, as described above with respect to Figures 2A to 2C. Each of the profiles shown in Figure 1A have a planar surface of index 14 and 24 respectively. The two index planar surfaces 14 and 24 are each substantially the same distance from the decorative planar surfaces 15 and 25. This provides the substantially coplanar registration of the surfaces 15 and 25 with respect to one another. The remaining description of the shore profile will center on the male shore of the preferred embodiment, with the understanding that the female shore is designed to provide the ease of construction qualities of the present invention and to be at least almost completely complementary in a manner exact to the profile of the male shore. Within the context of the present invention the term "almost completely" indicates that the lower surfaces of the male and female edges may not form a seam completely without intermediate open space as shown in space 60 of Figure 10 This space does not need to be present but preferred in order to take into account the wear on the cutting tools used to form the profile of the edge, which would otherwise cause a perfe adjusted seam to gradually force the lower planar surfaces away from the coupling. With small space 60 on the bottom of the shore, the production tool can last longer between the changes without detrimentally affecting the seam fit. In the most preferred embodiment of Figures 1A to 1C, the first profile has the member 11 above the index planar surface 14. Between the member 1 1 and the decorative planar surface 15 is the first upper female member 12. The member 11 is angled outwards and upwards from the index planar surface 14 towards the plane formed by the decorative planar surface 15 such that a first lower surface 16 of the member 11 forms an angle? with the planar surface of index 14. The angle? it can be from 20 to 50 degrees, preferably from 25 to 45 degrees, most preferably from 30 to 40 degrees. The member 11 has a rounded off end 17 and a first top surface that is not parallel with the first bottom surface 16, such that the surfaces 16 and 18 result in a slight taper of the member 11 toward the distal end 17. The first top surface 18 of member 11 also forms a lower surface of first upper female member 12. Below the planar surface of index 14 is the first lower female member 13 which has an upper surface corresponding to the planar surface of index 14. The first and second profiles are complementary to the point that upon the occurrence of the complementary edge engagement and / or the end profiles of the adjacent articles, a seam is formed that is substantially without spaces. Referring now to Figures 4A and 4B, a typical "anti-acoustic floor" system is shown. In an anti-acoustic floor system, the panels of the flooring material are glued together along their edges. The panels are not attached in any way to the subfloor. The present invention eliminates the need to stick together the individual panels. The underlayment without being covered with a flexible pad 102. The first panel 104 and the second panel 106 are joined as described above, and are placed directly on the flexible pad 102. As shown in Figure 4B, when pressure is exerted on the seaming area 108 the gasket configuration of the present invention acts as a ball-and-socket joint thereby allowing bending in a manner that will not result in the wear and tear associated with seam joints of the prior art. Due to the structural integrity of the resulting floor is overly reliant on the integrity of the seam, the present invention results in a floor that is much less likely to fail due to seam failures. Also, the present invention allows said floor to be separated and replaced together many, many times without abrading or breaking the components of the seam. Obviously, modifications and further variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. Therefore, it is to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise as specifically described herein.

Claims (21)

1. A rectilinear finish article comprising substantially planar surfaces, at least one first interconnection edge having a first periphery and at least one second interconnection edge having a second profile, the second profile being complementary to the first profile, comprising the first periphery a male member located between two female members, and the second perimeter comprising a female member located between two male members; wherein each of at least one first interconnecting edge and each of at least one second interconnecting edge can be joined to a second adjacent article of similar construction by a method comprising: making a first interconnecting edge and a second interconnection edge of two adjacent articles approach each other at an angle, where a represents an angle formed by the planar surfaces of the two articles; attach the complementary profiles of the articles; and causing the planar surfaces of the two articles to become coplanar; to form a seam substantially without open intermediate space having a longitudinal direction, wherein the articles can not be separated by a force to the attraction applied in the plane of the articles and substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the seam without breaking so minus one of the interconnection edges.

The article according to claim 1, further comprising an upper planar surface and a lower planar surface, the planar surfaces being formed by rolling a finishing material on a central core.

3. The article according to claim 2, wherein the core is made of a material selected from the group consisting of agglomerate board, solid polymeric materials, and foamed polymeric materials.

4. The article according to claim 2, wherein the central core is made of a material selected from the group consisting of hydrophobic polymers.

The article according to claim 2, wherein the upper planar surface and the lower planar surface are each independently selected from a group consisting of high pressure decorative laminates and polymeric finishing materials.

The article according to claim 2, wherein each of the upper planar surface and the lower planar surface are a high pressure decorative laminate and the central core is a foamed polymeric material.

7. The article according to claim 6, wherein the foamed polymeric material is a foamed polyvinyl chloride, polyacrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene (ABS), polyamide, or high impact polystyrene (HIPS).

8. The article according to claim 7, wherein the foamed polymeric material has a density reduction of 0 to 50%.

9. A rectilinear article of floor finish installed on a flexible pad, the article comprising substantially planar surfaces at least one first interconnection edge having a first profile and at least one second interconnection edge having a second profile, the second being The complementary with the first profile; wherein each of at least one first interconnecting edge and each of at least one second interconnecting edge can be joined to a second adjacent article of similar construction by a process comprising: causing a first interconnecting edge and a second interconnection edge of two adjacent articles approximate one another at an angle of, where a represents an angle formed by the planar surfaces of the two articles; couple the complementary profiles of the article; and make the planar surfaces of the two articles coplanar; to form a seam substantially without intermediate open space having a longitudinal direction, wherein the articles can not be separated by a pulling force applied in the plane of the articles and substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the seam without breaking at least one of the interconnecting edges, the seam forming a flexible joint such that when weight is applied to the seam the articles rotate slightly around the joint as the seam is slightly depressed in the flexible pad, the flexible joint being constructed to avoid Any damage that occurs to the first and second edges of interconnection as a result of the rotation of the items.

10. The article according to claim 9, further comprising an upper planar surface and a lower planar surface, the planar surfaces being by lamination of a finishing material on a central core.

11. The article according to claim 10, wherein the core is made of a material selected from the group consisting of agglomerate board, solid polymeric materials, and foamed polymeric materials.

12. The article according to claim 10, wherein the central core is made of a material selected from the group consisting of hydrophobic polymers. The article according to claim 10, wherein the upper planar surface and the lower planar surface are each independently selected from the group consisting of high pressure decorative laminates and polymeric finishing materials. The article according to claim 10, wherein each of the upper planar surface and the lower planar surface are a high pressure decorative laminate and the central core is a foamed polymeric material. 15. The article according to claim 14, wherein the foamed polymer material is a foamed polyvinyl chloride, a polyacrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene (ABS), polyamide, or a high impact polystyrene (HIPS). 16. The article according to claim 15, wherein the foamed polymeric material has a density reduction of 0 to 50%. 17. A rectilinear finishing article comprising substantially planar surfaces, at least one first interconnection edge having a first profile and at least one second interconnection edge having a second profile, the second profile being complementary to the first periphery, the first profile comprising a male member located between two female members, and the second periphery comprising a female member located between two male members; wherein each of at least one first interconnecting edge and each of at least one second interconnecting edge can be joined to a second adjacent article of similar construction by a process comprising: making a first interconnecting edge and a second interconnection edge of two adjacent articles approximate one another at an angle, where a represents an angle formed by the planar surfaces of the two articles; attach the complementary profiles of the articles; and making the planar surfaces of the two articles coplanar; to form a seam substantially without intermediate open space having a longitudinal direction, wherein the articles can not be separated by a pulling force applied in the plane of the articles and substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the seam without breaking at least one of the interconnection edges, wherein the articles can be joined and disconnected in a plurality of times without the functional deterioration of the first and second interconnection edges. 18. The article according to claim 17, further comprising an upper planar surface and a lower planar surface, the planar surfaces being formed by lamination of a finishing material on a central core. 19. The article according to claim 18, wherein the core is made of a material selected from the group consisting of agglomerate board, solid polymeric materials, and foamed polymeric materials. 20. The article according to claim 18, wherein the central core is made of a material selected from the group consisting of hydrophobic polymers. The article according to claim 18, wherein the upper planar surface and the lower planar surface are each, each of at least a second interconnecting edge can be joined to a second adjacent article of similar construction by a process comprising: causing a first interconnecting edge and a second interconnecting edge of two adjacent articles to approximate one another at an angle a, wherein a represents an angle formed by the planar surfaces of the two articles; attach the complementary profiles of the articles; and make the planar surfaces of the two articles coplanar; to form a seam substantially without intermediate open space having a longitudinal direction, wherein the articles can not be separated by a pulling force applied in the plane of the articles and substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the seam without breaking at least one of the interconnection edges, wherein the coupling of the complementary profiles also forms a rotating joint comprising the convex distant end of the upper male member of the second interconnection edge that is seated in the concavity of the first interconnection edge, being the rotating joint responsible for rotation around the seam when it is subjected to pressure from above. 26. The article according to claim 25, further comprising an upper planar surface and a lower planar surface, the planar surfaces being formed by lamination of a finishing material on a central core. 27. The article according to claim 26, wherein the core is made of a material selected from the group consisting of agglomerate board, solid polymeric materials, and foamed polymeric materials. 28. The article according to claim 26, wherein the central core is made of a material selected from the group consisting of hydrophobic polymers. 29. The article according to claim 26, wherein the upper planar surface and the lower planar surface are each independently selected from the group consisting of high pressure decorative laminates and finishing polymer materials. 30. The article according to claim 26, wherein each of the upper planar surface and the lower planar surface are a high pressure decorative laminate and the central core is a foamed polymeric material. 31. The article according to claim 30, wherein the foamed polymeric material is a foamed polyvinyl chloride, a polyacrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene (ABS), a polyamide, or a high impact polystyrene (HIPS). . 32. The article according to claim 31, wherein the foamed polymer material has a density reduction of 0 to 50%. 33. A rectilinear finishing article comprising substantially planar surfaces, a first interconnection edge having a first end profile, a second interconnection edge having a second end profile, the second end periphery being complementary to the first profile at the end, the first end profile comprising a male member located between two female members, and the second end profile comprising a female member located between two male members; wherein the first interconnecting edge of a first article can be coupled with the second interconnecting edge of a second article of similar construction by a method comprising: making a first interconnecting edge of a first article and a second interconnecting edge of a second article approximate one another at an angle, where it represents an angle formed by the planar surfaces of the two articles; attach the complementary profiles of the edges of the articles; and making the planar surfaces of the two articles coplanar; to form a seam substantially without intermediate open space having a longitudinal axis; the rectilinear finishing article further comprising a first interconnecting end having a first end profile, a second interconnecting end having a second end profile, the second end profile being complementary to the first end profile, the first end profile a male member located between two female members, and the second end profile comprising a female member located between two male members; wherein the first interconnecting end of a first article can be coupled with the second interconnecting end of a third article of similar construction by a process comprising: sliding a first article along the longitudinal axis of a pre-coupled interconnecting edge; coupling the complementary end profiles of the articles; and snapping the complementary end profiles together to form an end seam substantially free of intermediate open space. 34. The article according to claim 33, further comprising an upper planar surface and a lower planar surface, the planar surfaces being formed by lamination of a finishing material on a central core. 35. The article according to claim 34, wherein the central core is made of a material selected from the group consisting of agglomerate board, solid polymeric materials, and foamed polymeric materials. 36. The article according to claim 34, wherein the central core is made of a material selected from the group consisting of hydrophobic polymers. 37. The article according to claim 34, wherein the upper planar surface and the lower planar surface are each independently selected from the group consisting of high pressure decorative laminates and polymeric finishing materials. 38. The article according to claim 34, wherein each of the upper planar surface and the lower planar surface are a high pressure decorative laminate and the central core is a foamed polymeric material. 39. The article according to claim 38, wherein the foamed polymeric material is a foamed polyvinyl chloride, a polyacrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene (ABS), a polyamide, or a high impact polystyrene (HIPS) . 40. The article according to claim 39, wherein the foamed polymeric material has a density reduction of 0 to 50%.