THIS INVENTION relates to prefabricated flooring. In particular, the invention relates to a prefabricated floor panel. Prefabricated floor panels of the kind are used in modular flooring systems to provide a temporary or long-term surface decking over a physical terrain for example a lawn. The invention also relates to a prefabricated flooring system, the system including two or more of the prefabricated floor panels.

Background of the Invention

Modular flooring systems include a plurality of interlocking or adjoining rectangular floor panels that are operably fixed together lengthwise and width wise to create a ground reinforcement deck in the form of an extended floor surface. The floor surface provides an elevated surface or base that acts to insulate people or materials from unsuitable physical terrain such as grass, sand, ice and mud surfaces. Indoor and outdoor applications of modular flooring systems include trade shows, factory floors, temporary roadways, and outdoor gatherings, and the flooring may serve to protect grass of playing fields of stadiums from surface traffic. Outer sides of the panels generally have interlocking mechanisms for interlocking two or more adjacent floor panels in grid-fashion to provide the floor surface. When assembled, the interlocking of the panels prevent displacement of the panels relative to one another and absorb stresses in a plane of the floor surface. The floor panels typically include a plurality of drainage openings on their tread surfaces to allow for the draining of fluids from the floor surface and provide ventilation between the tread surfaces and underside of the panels.

Existing modular flooring systems pose a number of disadvantages: Installation of the panels over grass causes the grass to die within a week or so; the interlocking mechanisms are often not sufficiently strong and flexible enough to hold the panels connected over uneven terrain, and shear off after repeated engaging and disengaging of the panels during assembly and disassembly of the floor surface during the provision of a temporary floor; and when a plurality of panels are interlocked, the resultant floor surface does not provide connectivity along an underside of the floor through which cabling may be ducted. Summary of the Invention

According to one aspect of the invention, broadly, there is provided a prefabricated floor panel, the panel including a substantially solid raised floor board flanked by upright sides integrally moulded with a plurality of laterally spaced arched ribs that support an underside of the board and that define one or more tunnels that run under the board and open to at least one of the raised sides of the board; the panel including one or more hooks protruding from at least one edge of the panel and one or more notches recessed in at least another edge of the panel, the hooks and notches operable to interlock with respective complimentary hooks and notches of at least one abutting floor panel of the like.

In use, a plurality of the prefabricated floor panels are consecutively placed over a ground surface and the panels interlocked to create a raised modular floor having a flat surface and of which the one or more tunnels are substantially aligned through which cabling may be ducted along the extent of the modular floor.

More particularly and according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a prefabricated floor panel, the panel defined about the origin of a Cartesian plane having longitudinal and transverse axes, the panel including: a substantially solid raised floor board flanked by upright sides, an underside of the board integrally supported by a plurality of arched ribs spaced along at least either one of the transverse and longitudinal axes to define at least one tunnel extending along the underside of the board and opening to opposite sides of the panel, thereby dividing the underside of the board into two or more cavities, at least one of the sides of the panel including one or more protruding hooks and at least one of the remaining sides of the panel including one or more recessed notches such that the one or more hooks may operatively be interlocked with one or more complimentary notches of a like adjoining panel and the one or more recessed notches may operatively be interlocked with one or more complimentary hooks of a like adjoining panel.

The one or more recessed notches may include perforate openings into the two or more cavities thereby fluidly connecting the underside of the board with the atmosphere. In use, the perforate openings allow for the drainage of fluids such as rainwater from the surface of the prefabricated floor panel. In an ideal embodiment of the invention, the perforate openings are limited in either number or size so that in use, the amount of air that may pass or escape through the two or more cavities is limited whilst the perforate openings provide for the drainage of the fluids from the surface.

Thus, in use and when the prefabricated floor panel is placed on vegetation such as grass, the two or more cavities of the panel perform as auto venting greenhouses that trap solar radiation and prevent convection, thereby advantageously promoting the growth of the vegetation under the modular floor, drastically increasing the time that the modular floor may be left assembled in one place and prolonging the life and appearance of the vegetation. Further, it is worth noting that the quantity of fluid that may escape from the perforate openings is limited in use by the seating of a like adjoining panel's complimentary hook in a recessed notch of the prefabricated floor panel.

The plurality of arched ribs may be spaced along the longitudinal axis to define a longitudinally extending tunnel along the underside of the board and opening to opposite sides of the panel and the plurality of arched ribs may be spaced along the transverse axis to define a transversely extending tunnel along the underside of the board and opening to remaining opposite sides of the panel, thereby dividing the panel into quadrant cavities about the origin of the Cartesian plane.

The quadrant cavities of the prefabricated floor panel may be reinforced with flat ribs extending to and from the sides of the quadrant cavities.

The one or more protruding hooks and the one or more recessed notches may be located towards upper ends of the sides of the panel and below the surface of the modular floor so that, in use and when interlocking the panel with a like adjoining panel, the one or more protruding hooks may be forcibly "snapped" into the one or more complimentary notches of the like adjoining panel. Likewise, when dislodging the panel from the like adjoining panel, the floor panel may be forcibly hinged about an upper end of the like adjoining panel to release the one or more protruding hooks from the complimentary one or more recessed notches of the like adjoining panel.

The one or more protruding hooks of the panel may be structurally strengthened by fixing the one or more hooks to the sides of the panel by an integrally moulded strut extending from a side of the panel to a far end of the hook. Ideally, the one or more protruding hooks are T-shaped and the one or more recessed notches fittingly match the shape of the one or more protruding T-shaped hooks. Preferably, the prefabricated floor panel may be manufactured by way of a drop-in mould that allows for the interchange ability of hook sizes during moulding of the floor panel and according to customer order customization.

The board of the floor panel may include a tread surface on an operatively upwards face of the board to provide grip for people or equipment being used on the modular floor.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a prefabricated flooring system, the system including a plurality of prefabricated floor panels as hereinbefore described.

Advantageously, the prefabricated flooring system as hereinbefore described may be implemented as a false, raised office floor and network and power cabling ducted through the one or more tunnels of the floor panels of the system.

The invention will now be described by way of non-limiting example with reference to the following drawings.

Drawings

In the drawings,

Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective top view of a prefabricated floor panel according to one aspect of the invention. Figure 2 shows a schematic bottom perspective view of the prefabricated floor panel of figure 1 and in accordance with this aspect of the invention.

Figure 3 shows a schematic perspective top view of a prefabricated flooring system according to one embodiment of another aspect of the invention, the flooring system including the prefabricated floor panel according to the aspect of the invention illustrated in figures 1 and 2.

Unless otherwise indicated, like reference numerals denote like parts of the invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention In figure 1 , reference numeral 8 generally denotes a prefabricated floor panel according to one aspect of the invention and one embodiment of the invention. The floor panel is defined about the origin of a Cartesian plane having a longitudinal axis 10 and a transverse axis 20, and has a substantially solid raised floor board 12 that is flanked by upright sides, of which only two sides are visible in the figure and indicated as 14 and 16. The substantially solid floor board 12 is supported by a plurality of arched ribs (of which only two end ribs 18 and 21 are visible in the figure) spaced along an underside of the board 12, the ribs defining a longitudinally extending tunnel 22 along the underside of the board 12 and opening to the opposite sides of the board, the longitudinally extending tunnel 22 shown here opening into the side 14, and a transversely extending tunnel 24 along the underside of the board 12, the transversely extending tunnel 24 opening into remaining opposite sides (of which 16 can be seen) of the board 12.

The side 14 of the panel has spaced-apart protruding T-shaped hooks 30 and 32, and spaced-apart recessed notches 34 and 36 at the opposite side 28 of the panel, the T- shaped hooks operable to be interlocked with two complimentary recessed notches of a like adjoining panel when in use in a prefabricated flooring system as shown in figure 3. Likewise, the spaced-apart recessed notches 34 and 36 are operable to be interlocked with two respective complimentary protruding T-shaped hooks of a like adjoining panel when used in the prefabricated flooring system of figure 3. Similarly, the remaining sides 26 and 16 of the panel have recessed notches 38 and 39 and protruding hooks 40 and 41 that are interlocked with like adjoining panels in similar fashion.

The protruding hooks 32, 30, 40 and 41 are located towards upper ends of the sides 14 and 16 respectively and just below a surface of the board 12 such that, when in use and during interlocking of the panel 8 with like adjoining panels, the protruding hooks 32, 30, 40 and

41 may be consecutively forcibly "snapped" into complimentary notches of the like adjoining panels (as can be seen clearly in figure 3) such that a substantially flat modular floor surface is established. During dislodging of the panel from the like adjoining panels, the floor panel 8 may be consecutively forcibly hinged about its upper ends of the sides 14 and 16 to release the protruding hooks 30, 32, 40 and 41 from the complimentary notches of the like adjoining panels.

The hooks 30, 32, 40 and 41 are strengthened by integrally moulded struts, of which one is indicated as 50.

Referring now to figure 2 of the drawings, the prefabricated floor panel is again generally denoted by numeral 8. Here, the ribbed arches spaced along the underside of the board, of which two are numbered as 44 and 46, are clearly visible. The tunnels 22 and 24 divide the underside of the board into quadrant cavities 50, 52, 54 and 56 about the origin of the longitudinally extending axis 10 and transversely extending axis 20.

The recessed notches 34, 38, 36 and 39 include perforate openings (of which one is shown as 58) into the cavities (the opening 58 opens into the cavity 50) thereby fluidly connecting the underside of the board 12 with the atmosphere. In use, the perforate openings allow for the drainage of fluids such as rainwater from the surface of the prefabricated floor panel 8. The perforate openings are limited in either number or size so that in use, the amount of air that may pass or escape through the cavity 50 is limited whilst the perforate opening 58 provides for the drainage of the fluids from the surface of the board 12. Thus, in use and when the prefabricated floor panel 8 is placed on vegetation such as grass, the quadrant cavities 50, 52, 54 and 56 of the panel 8 perform as auto venting greenhouses that trap solar radiation and prevent convection, thereby advantageously promoting the growth of the vegetation under the modular floor system as shown in figure 3, thereby increasing the time that the modular floor may be left assembled in one place and prolonging the life and appearance of the vegetation.

Referring now to figure 3, the floor panel 8 of figures 1 and 2 is shown here in creating a prefabricated flooring system according to one aspect of the invention and generally denoted by numeral 90. The panel 8 is interlocked with like adjoining panels 100 and 102 to establish the raised modular floor surface to be used as a temporary or semi-permanent reinforced deck under which cabling may be ducted. Although not shown here, the panel 8 and other adjoining panels, e.g. 100 and 102 may have a roughened tread surface to improve grip of people or equipment on the prefabricated flooring system 90.

Advantageously, the tunnels of the prefabricated floor panel and prefabricated flooring system as hereinbefore described may be used to duct piping, for example piping of a draught machine or the like.