How firmly do connecting pins hold rubber tiles together?

Connecting pins are plastic connectors that link neighbouring rubber tiles and safety tiles. They work in the same way as a wooden dowel in furniture making. Each pin sits several centimetres deep in both of the tiles it joins. Because the tiles are laid in a brick bond, every tile is pinned to two tiles in the row in front and two in the row behind.

The pins stop the tiles shifting sideways against each other. They do not stop them being pulled apart in the direction the pin runs. Only pins that are glued in prevent that. An edge restraint around the laid area does the same job, and so does bonding the tiles to the sub-base. The pins also cannot absorb the natural shrinkage of the rubber, so over the years the joints between the tiles slowly open up.