FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a panel. The present invention also relates to a heating system. The present invention also relates to a method for installing a heating system.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The following background information is a description of the background of the present invention, which thus not necessarily has to be a description of prior art.

One of our times big challenges is to reduce the overall energy consumption in the world. In many parts of the world, houses, apartments, offices, shops, factories and/or other public or non-public spaces, need to be heated in order to provide an acceptable environment for people spending time in these spaces. Such heating thus needs to provide a comfortable temperature at the same time as the energy consumption should be kept at a minimum.

Underfloor heating may be used for reducing the energy consumption at the same time as an acceptable temperature/environment is provided. It is nowadays common to install underfloor heating using warm water or electricity as a heat source when stone and/or ceramic tiles are used for covering the floor. Also, underfloor heating may be used when wooden floors, such as e.g. parquet flooring, are used for covering the floors.

Traditionally, the heat used for providing the underfloor heating has been created by warm water flowing in pipes/tubes under the floor boards and/or by electricity flowing through resistance in sheet materials arranged under the floor boards. Such a known solution is described in US2008/0210679, in which a mat/sheet “denoted heating device 1” in the document is arranged under a “floor covering 12”, i.e. under the actual floor boards. These pipes/tubes and/or sheet materials are thus arranged underneath the wooden floor, or underneath the stone and/or ceramic tiles. These traditional solutions have a disadvantage in that they are not very efficient in providing the heat into the space where it is actually needed, i.e. into the space above the wooden floor, and/or above the stone and/or ceramic tiles. This is due to the fact that the heat is created underneath the wooden floor, or underneath the stone and/or ceramic tiles, and thus needs to be transported through the entire wooden floor, and/or through the entire stone and/or ceramic tiles to reach the space where the e.g. people are to be present, i.e. to reach the space which should be heated. Also, a large part of the created heat is transported in the opposite direction, i.e. away from the wooden floor, or the stone and/or ceramic tiles, which also means away from the space which should be heated. Thus, a lot of the created heat is lost in such traditional heating systems, wherefore the heating system is inefficient and wastes energy.

In a prior art solution shown in US20060289144, a flooring board is instead provided with an embedded heating foil within the board, which is arranged for creating heat when being supplied with electrical energy. Hereby, the created heat is much more efficiently provided to the space in which it is needed, since the heat is created within the actual flooring board, instead of underneath it.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The flooring board shown in US20060289144 has, however, a number of problems related to the power supply to the flooring boards. The flooring board has electrical connecting means arranged on the grooves and tongues of the quick coupling joints being used for mechanically coupling the flooring board together with other flooring boards. Since the electrical connecting means are arranged on the grooves and tongues of the joint, the electrical connecting means will also experience small movements when pressure is applied on the flooring boards. The parts of the joints, i.e. the grooves and the tongues of the joints, move slightly every time for example a person walks on the flooring boards. Hereby, the electrical connecting means in US20060289144 will become worn out after some use. Also, even a lost contact may result from the wear of the electrical connecting means, whereby the heating function is lost. Also, a short circuit may be caused by the wear of the electrical connecting means, which may be hazardous due to e.g. a risk of fire. These possible problems are of course very unfortunate, especially for a floor having a long expected life time. Such a floor may have to be exchanged after a considerably shorter time than expected due to a malfunctioning heating function of the floor.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a panel, a heating system, and a method that solve at least some of the above stated problems and/or disadvantages.

The object is achieved by the panel according to the present invention.

The panel includes:a base layer;a heat providing layer attached to the base layer, the heat being created by electric energy;a covering layer, attached to the heat providing layer, which may have a visible surface;first and second opposite longitudinal sides;first and second opposite end sides; andpanel coupling means arranged for coupling the panel to adjacent panels;at least first and second longitudinal grooves arranged in the base layer from the first end side to the second end side and facing the heat providing layer, the at least first and second longitudinal grooves being arranged in parallel with, and having at least first and second distances to, the first and second longitudinal sides, respectively; andat least one first and at least one second electrical end connectors arranged in the at least first and second longitudinal grooves to protrude from at least one of the first and the second end sides, and arranged for being electrically connected to the heat providing layer, and for being electrically connectable to at least one corresponding end connector of at least one adjacent panel, and for being at least partly resilient, thereby providing a connecting force Fconbeing essentially perpendicular to the at least one of the first and the second end sides when the panel is coupled to at least one adjacent panel, the connecting force Fconbeing directed towards at least one corresponding end connector of the at least one adjacent panel.

It should be noted that if the panel is mechanically coupled to/arranged between two adjacent panels at its end sides, two connecting forces Fconare created, one at each one of the two end sides of the panel. However, if the panel is arranged first or last in a low of panels, i.e. if the panel is only mechanically coupled to one adjacent panel at one of its end sides, only one connecting force Fconis created, at the end side facing the adjacent panel. Thus, a at least one connecting force Fconbeing essentially perpendicular to the at least one of the first and the second end sides, respectively, is created when the panel is coupled to at least one adjacent panel.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the panel also includes at least first and second longitudinal coupling elements arranged in the at least first and second longitudinal grooves from the first end side to the second end side, respectively. Hereby, the at least one first and at least one second electrical end connectors arranged in the at least first and second longitudinal grooves are arranged for being electrically connected to the heat providing layer by means of the at least first and second longitudinal coupling elements.

The above mentioned object is also achieved by the heating system according to the present invetion.

The heating system includes:at least one panel as described in this document; andan electrical energy providing arrangement, arranged e.g. at a mounting base and/or facing the base layer, adjacent to at least one of the first and the second end sides of the at least one panel for providing the electric energy to the at least one first and at least one second electrical end connectors.

The above mentioned object is also achieved by the method for installing the heating system according to the present invention.

The method includes:mounting the electrical energy providing arrangement at the mounting base;mechanically coupling a first panel with at least one second panel by use of the coupling means on the first and second end sides, thereby creating a row of the first panel and the at least one second panel;electrically connecting the first panel and the at least one second panel by use of the first and second end connectors of the first panel and the at least one second panel; andconnecting first and second electrical power supply end connectors of one or more of the first panel and the at least one second panel to the electrical energy providing arrangement.

The panel and heating system according to the present invention provide for an energy efficient and durable heating of essentially all sorts of spaces.

By integrating the heat providing layer into a construction panel, such as e.g. a flooring panel, a wall panel and/or a ceiling panel, it is possible to efficiently, precisely and reliably regulate the indoor climate/temperature in spaces delimited by a floor, walls and a ceiling at least partly including such panels.

The heat providing layer is arranged very close to the space to be heated, since it is located directly under the covering/decorative layer. Hereby, the created heat may be very efficiently transported to the space to be heated when the panel according to the present invention is used. By this efficient heat transportation to the space to be heated, the consumption of electric energy being used for creating the heat is minimized.

The panel according to the present invention is cuttable in the sense of being possible to cut off and still be used for laying floors. This is due to the fact that the locations of the first and second longitudinal grooves are well defined, and due to the fact that the first and second longitudinal grooves run from the first end side to the second end side of the panel, which also results in a well-defined placement of the first and second electrical end connectors and/or the first and second electrical power supply end connectors placed in the first and second grooves, across the whole length of the panel. Hereby, a cut off panel may be laid against another cut off panel, or may be laid against a whole panel, and would still be provided with a reliable supply of electrical energy for generating the heat in the panel. This is possible since the first and second longitudinal grooves run from the first end side to the second end side of the panel, i.e. are arranged in a well-defined location along the whole length of the panel, wherefore the first and second electrical end connectors and/or the first and second electrical power supply end connectors of the panels will fit/match/meet also for cut off panels, such that a connection can easily be made.

The electrical end connectors and/or the electrical power supply end connectors of the panel according to the present invention are separate from the mechanical panel joint coupling, i.e. from the joint coupling mechanically holding panels together. Hereby, the electrical end connectors and/or the electrical power supply end connectors are also protected from the many movements of the parts of the mechanical panel joint, and from the component wear these movement could result in. Hereby, a secure and reliable power supply to the panel is assured. Also, the design of the electrical end connectors according to the present invention simplifies mechanical coupling of panels together, at the same time as a stable electrical coupling is provided.

Also, the at least partly resilient end connectors protruding from at least one of the first and the second end sides of the panel according to the present invention provides for a reliable and secure electrical contact to corresponding end connectors of adjacent panels due to the perpendicular connecting force Fconcreated by the resilience and protrusion of the end connectors. As described more in detail below, the connecting force Fconcreating the electrical contact is created by a coupling force Fcoup1caused by the panel coupling means coupling the panel and adjacent panels together. The resilient first and second electrical end connectors thus provide a connecting force Fconbeing essentially perpendicular to the first and second end sides, respectively, when the panel is coupled to an adjacent corresponding panel. Hereby, electrical energy to be used for creating the heat in the heat providing layer reliably reaches each one of coupled panels, and therefore also reaches the heat providing layers of each one of the panels.

The panel according to the present invention may be produced and installed cost efficiently. Since the heat may be created by use of low voltages, such as 4-60 Volts, e.g. approximately 25 Volts or approximately 50 Volts, the panels may even be installed by a layman, i.e. by a non-professional. Thus, by installation of the panels according to the present invention, there may not be a need for an electrician to be present, depending on laws and regulations where the panel is to be installed/used, which dramatically reduces the total cost for an end user, e.g. a house owner. Prior art electrical underfloor heating systems are often driven by much higher voltages, e.g. 230 Volts, which must be installed by a certified electrician.

Some known underfloor heating systems include a lower voltage mat/sheeting creating the heat, which is arranged under the wooden floor or underneath the stone and/or ceramic tiles. One such example is the above mentioned heating device 1 in US2008/0210679, which is arranged under the floor covering 12. This arrangement results in considerable energy losses as described above. Also, this prior art lower voltage mat/sheeting is often difficult to properly install, wherefore a skilled person often must adapt e.g. the size of the mat/sheeting to fit the area to be covered by the floor. This increases the costs for installation of the floors.

The panel according to the present invention, however, already itself includes the heat providing layer, and does thus not need any heat creating mats to be installed underneath it.

As a non-limiting example, a power per floor area in an interval of approximately, 10-40 W/M2, or 20-30 W/m2may be used for creating the heat. The used power per floor area may be seen as a balance between differing characteristics for the floor and/or heating. Higher power generally results in shorter heat providing circuits, which is an advantage when cutting off the panels since the part of the panel without heating due to the cutting off becomes small. However, for lower powers per floor area, the resistances of the heat providing circuits are less critical than for higher powers and lower resistances.

Detailed exemplary embodiments and advantages of the panel, the heating system, and the method according to the invention is hereafter described with reference to the appended drawings illustrating some preferred embodiments.

