Patent Application - ADHESIVELESS DECORATIVE FLOOR TILE > Claims

1. An adhesiveless decorative floor tile including at least one decorative layer and a backing layer comprising an array of resilient continuous oscillating walls that project outwardly from an outer surface of said backing layer, wherein said walls define an array of continuous oscillating passageways arranged so that when pressure is applied to said decorative layer, a partial vacuum is formed within at least one of said continuous oscillating passageways allowing said decorative floor tile to remain in place on a surface in the absence of adhesive.
- 2. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 1 wherein said continuous walls maintain a substantially constant height above said surface of said back layer.
  - 3. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 2 wherein said continuous walls define a sinusoidal pattern.
    - 7. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 3 wherein said continuous walls are arranged both transversely and longitudinally on the same surface of said backing layer.
  - 6. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 2 wherein said continuous walls are organized in oscillating rows, with said oscillating passageways being defined offset on center between said rows.
- 4. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 1 wherein said continuous walls define a pattern that is at least one of non-periodic and non-uniform.
- 5. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 1 wherein each of said continuous walls define a substantially sinusoidal curve.
- 8. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 1 wherein said continuous walls have a height above said surface of said backing layer in the range from about 0.050 mm to about 1.0 mm, and have a thickness in the range from about 0.300 mm to about 0.400 mm.
- 9. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 1 wherein said continuous walls are arranged with respect to one another so as to define one or more void regions that are bounded by said resilient walls so that when pressure is applied to said decorative layer, a partial vacuum is formed within some or all of each void region allowing said decorative floor tile to remain in place on a surface in the absence of adhesive.
- 10. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 1 wherein said continuous walls provide a gradient of resistance along a loading direction thereby distributing shear forces at the interface between each of said continuous walls and an underlying surface.
11. An adhesiveless decorative floor tile including at least one decorative layer and a backing layer comprising an array of resilient continuous periodically oscillating walls that project outwardly from an outer surface of said backing layer, wherein said walls define an array of continuous periodically oscillating passageways arranged so that when pressure is applied to said decorative layer, a partial vacuum is formed within at least one of said continuous oscillating passageways allowing said decorative floor tile to remain in place on a surface in the absence of adhesive.
- 12. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 11 wherein said continuous walls maintain a substantially constant height above said surface of said back layer.
  - 13. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 12 wherein said continuous walls define a sinusoidal pattern.
    - 14. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 13 wherein said continuous walls define a pattern that is at least one of non-periodic and non-uniform.
      - 16. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 14 wherein said continuous walls are organized in oscillating rows, with said oscillating passageways being defined offset on center between said rows.
        17. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 16 wherein said continuous walls are arranged both transversely and longitudinally on the same surface of said backing layer.
- 18. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 11 wherein said continuous walls are formed from a material that is able to spring back quickly into shape after being bent, stretched, or squashed.
15. The adhesiveless decorative floor tile of claim 41 wherein each of said continuous walls define a substantially sinusoidal curve.
19. An adhesiveless decorative floor tile including at least one decorative layer and a backing layer comprising an array of resilient linear walls that project outwardly from an outer surface of said backing layer, wherein said walls define an array of passageways arranged so that when pressure is applied to said decorative layer, a partial vacuum is formed within at least one of said continuous oscillating passageways allowing said decorative floor tile to remain in place on a surface in the absence of adhesive.