The history of laminate flooring and glue less systems

Viken, Sweden - February 22, 2001

The history of laminate flooring and glue less systems is subject to much misleading information and rumors. Here is the story told by the people that started the evolution of laminate flooring.

The first laminate flooring was developed in 1977 on the initiative and under the management of Mr. Darko Pervan the president of Välinge Aluminium AB, at that time division manager of the Perstorp Building Material Division. Perstorp is a Swedish chemical company and their subsidiary PERGO has been the market leader in laminate flooring during a 20-year period.

The first laminate flooring with a glue less locking system – ALLOC - was developed by Välinge Aluminium AB in 1995 on the initiative and under the management of Mr. Darko Pervan, the president of Välinge Aluminium AB. ALLOC was officially launched in December 7:th 1995 at a press conference in Oslo in Norway together with Norske Skog Flooring, the licensee of Välinge aluminium AB.

The basic principles for the laminate floor were developed by Mr. Gerhard Schultze in 1977, at that time employed by Perstorp.

The basic principles for the glue less locking system was developed by Mr. Tony Pervan in 1993-94.

Tony Pervan and Gerhard Schultze have been employed by Välinge Aluminium AB during the past 9 years and participated in several flooring projects under the management of Mr. Darko Pervan.

In 1999 Välinge developed the first wood flooring with a glue less locking system, together with the Kährs group, a licensee of Välinge Aluminium AB.

Välinge has been rewarded 3 European and 5 US patents that protect the Välinge Locking systems. Several patent applications are pending. The inventors are Tony Pervan and Darko Pervan.