What benefits do connectors or plug‑in dowels provide for rubber playground tiles (playground safety mats) and rubber granulate mats?

In the connection system using connectors, plug‑in dowels, or plastic dowels, several rubber playground tiles (playground safety mats) – typically made of rubber granulate – are joined by cylindrical plastic elements, most often with a ribbed surface. The connectors are pressed into factory‑prepared holes in one tile. Then, a further tile is aligned, offset by half a tile, so that its holes match exactly the dowels, and is pushed onto the connector against the adjoining tile.

The installation of tiles with plastic dowels is carried out exclusively in a staggered (brick) pattern. In this layout, each tile is connected by the plastic dowels with two adjacent tiles from the preceding and following rows, while no connection is made within the same row.

The mounting system with connectors does not form a form‑ or force‑locking joint; it merely limits the lateral movement of the tiles. Complete separation of the rows is not prevented because the friction‑based system is too weak. Moreover, volume changes in the rubber granulate tiles due to weather and temperature influences are not compensated by the connectors.

If the tiles joined with connectors are not additionally bonded at the edges – thereby creating a force‑locking connection – temporary or permanent open joints may develop between the tiles.