EP1483465A1

EP1483465A1 - Device for positioning and fixing the slabs of a raised floor on vertical props

Info

Publication number: EP1483465A1
Application number: EP03712289A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Pierre Belbenoit; Marc Belbenoit
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-02-01
Filing date: 2003-01-31
Publication date: 2004-12-08
Also published as: FR2835553B1; FR2835553A1; WO2003064785A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a system for fixing polygonal slabs (1) which are placed edge to edge on vertical props (2) in order to form a surface such as a raised floor. A recess (6) is formed on two adjacent edges (1a,1b) of each slab (1) at the same distance near the apex (1c) thereof. Said recess is carved from the vertical edge (1a, 1b) of the slab along a height (h) such that the recess extends at least to side B of the slab (1), which enters in contact with the supporting head (3) of a prop (2). Said supporting head (3) comprises a succession of bosses (4) which have a top in the shape of a regular pyramid and face upwards and in the direction of the slab (1) so as to engage with the seating formed by two recesses (6,6') that are arranged across from each other when the corresponding apexes (1c) converge.

Description

DEVICE FOR POSITIONING AND LOCKING THE SLABS OF A RAISED FLOOR ON VERTICAL SUPPORTS

The present invention relates to a device for positioning and locking a plurality of polygonal slabs, full or encapsulated in a metal tray, arranged edge to edge, on vertical supports advantageously adjustable in height, to form a flat horizontal and continuous surface such that 'a raised floor.

The currently known raised floors are formed from generally square modular slabs, which are joined to one another in a horizontal plane and whose vertices rest on horizontal support heads mounted fixed or adjustable at the end of vertical supports arranged on the ground and properly spaced from each other. Each of these supports comprises a lower sole applied to the ground and a vertical connecting element, of fixed or adjustable length between the lower sole applied to the ground and the upper head bearing against the underside of the slabs. According to the most recent embodiments, the corners of the polygonal slabs are simply placed on the support head of each support, their position on this head being determined by elements projecting upwards carried by the upper head of the support. These projecting elements are generally constituted by vertical bosses which, in the case of square or rectangular slabs are regularly distributed at 90 ° from each other around the vertical axis of the support, axis on which the vertices are found to be coincident. four adjacent slabs; these bosses are freely engaged in corresponding housings provided on the underside of the tiles and positioned on the bisector of the angle formed by each corner of the tile. This solution which is described in French patent 2,703,385 in the name of the same applicant, already constituted an improvement to the solutions which were known until then.

However, and according to the prior improvement, the mounting operations aimed at making the bosses of the support coincide with the corresponding housings under the slabs proved to be particularly difficult due to the weight of the slabs on the one hand and the fact that no visibility is possible to make them coincide, bosses and housings; on the other hand, this solution had the drawback. oftentimes prohibitive of possible sliding when mounting two consecutive slabs on the head of a support by rotation and sliding of the slabs around the bosses. This then resulted in shifts in the assembly and considerable loss of time for adjusting the raised floors.

Patent EP 0 325 051 describes a solution overcoming all these drawbacks by providing a system for mounting the slabs on their support ensuring firm lateral support for the slabs once they have been applied to the heads of the supports but also a lateral positioning obtained from elsewhere when the first slab is put in place. This system makes a support cooperate, whose bosses on its support head are bent parallelepipedic pieces placed in the center of each of the sides of the support, with slabs which have a longitudinal clearance over the entire length of their flanks and half of the height of these, which slabs further comprise outside of each of their corner a positioning device. This L-shaped positioning device consists of two plates assembled at right angles to the consecutive flanks coming from a corner of the slab, plates whose free ends have a shape corresponding to that particular of the bosses of the support.

It is clear that thus, the positioning and locking of the tiles is ensured. However, such a system involving an added element is complex to manufacture and its robustness is linked to that of the added elements.

The present invention therefore provides another solution to the aforementioned problems, simplified design solution, simple to produce and reliable over time.

To this end and in accordance with the invention, a positioning and locking system is proposed for a plurality of polygonal, for example square, rectangular, triangular, etc. solid or encapsulated slabs, where appropriate. metal tray covering the edges of the slabs by side skirts, arranged edge to edge in support, respectively skirts against skirts, on vertical supports, advantageously adjustable in height, to form a flat horizontal and continuous surface such as a raised floor. This system is remarkable in that there is a notch near the vertices of each slab and at equal distance on the two consecutive edges from said vertex, this notch being hollowed out horizontally in the thickness of the slab from the vertical edge of this or in the metal side skirt if it exists, over a height such that it opens at least on the face of the slab or of the metal tray coming into contact with the support head of a support, this head support comprising a succession of bosses erected upwards and in the direction of the slab to come to be embedded just in the base of the housing formed by the two notches facing two consecutive slabs arranged flat and side by side, when the tops correspondents near these notches converge, for example at the center of the head of the support, when the latter is circular, said bosses being provided with a cap of regular pyramidal shape ière facilitating the introduction of the bosses in the notches of the slabs.

It is therefore easy to understand the effectiveness of the proposed device, since for mounting a slab on the vertical supports, it suffices to approach one of the vertices of this slab and snap it into place between two regularly spaced bosses on the head of the support until said bosses engage in the notches provided nearby on the edges of the slab, these notches remaining perfectly visible at all times and therefore easily positioned for the fitter. In addition, it is easy to understand that once the top of the slab is disposed between the bosses of the support, it is no longer possible to perform a sliding or rotating movement in the plane of the floor without generating the same movement for the support, that is to say without altering the mounting area of an adjacent slab on the same support, with the advantage otherwise good precision in the successive positioning of the slabs around the support.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of the mounting device according to the invention here showing the maintenance of two successive square or rectangular tiles on a square support designed to receive four tiles,

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the corner of a slab, seen from below, showing on a large scale the shape and positioning of the notches made on two successive edges of the slab near one of its vertices,

FIG. 3 is a partial representation from below of a set of four square or rectangular slabs, positioned on the head of a support of which only the four bosses have been shown engaged in the notches of the slabs,

FIG. 4 is a representation in top view of a support according to the invention of circular shape and designed to receive four square or rectangular slabs,

- Figure 5 is a view identical to Figure 4 but shown in elevation, - Figure 6 is a partial perspective view of an improved slab corner according to the invention showing different embodiments depending on whether the slab is full or qu '' consists of a simple metal tray or that it is a full encapsulted slab inside the same tank.

The mounting device shown in Figures 1 to 3 is provided to ensure the maintenance of horizontal modular slabs 1 of a raised floor on vertical supports 2 resting on the ground on which the raised floor is to be mounted; for the description which follows, for the ease of description, square or rectangular tiles will be chosen, it being recalled that the solution would be the same for tiles having a regular polygonal shape or not, for example triangular, trapezoidal. In the figures and for the convenience of the description, we have chosen to assign the letter A to the upper plane of the slabs, that is to say the visible part of the floor and vice versa, the letter B to the underside of the slabs coming to look at the ground.

The vertical supports 2 are spaced from each other by a distance corresponding to the dimensions of the modular slabs 1. Each vertical support 2 of fixed or adjustable height, comprises, at its lower part, a support sole on the ground, not shown on the drawings and, at its upper end, a horizontal support head 3 on which the corners of the modular slabs come to rest 1. In FIG. 1, only two slabs 1 are partially represented, but it is clear that each vertical support 2 serves to support four square or rectangular slabs 1, as shown in bottom view in FIG. 3. These four slabs 1 are joined to each other, that is to say that their vertical edges 1a, 1b are applied against each other the others and the vertices le of the four adjacent slabs are combined, (plan view -figure 3) at a point 0 through which the vertical axis ZZ 'of the support 2 passes.

In the nonlimiting embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the upper support head 3 of the support 2 carries on its upper face four bosses 4, extending vertically upwards, distributed regularly at 90 ° from each other, around the vertical axis ZZ 'of the support 2 and arranged at equal distance from this axis ZZ'. With particular reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, these bosses 4 have a generally parallelepiped shape of section advantageously, although not necessarily, rectangular, arranged radially towards the center 0 of. the plate along their major axis of symmetry 5. Incidentally, these parallelepipedic bosses 4 are advantageously surmounted by a pyramidal cap 41 coming, as will be said later, to facilitate the engagement of the bosses 4 in housings provided for this purpose in the lower sections of edges la, lb of tiles 1.

As shown on a larger scale in FIG. 2, each corner of the polygonal slabs 1 comprises, near the top of the said corner, a notch 6 hollowed symmetrically and equidistant from the top of the slab, on the two edges la and lb consecutive forming at their intersection said vertex; this notching of the edges 1a and 1b of each corner of the slabs 1 is carried out by removing material by horizontal penetration into the slab, perpendicular to the edges 1a, 1b over a distance d equal to at most half the thickness of a boss 4, that is to say half the width of its section; in addition, each notch 6 is machined to be through on the lower face B of the slab 1 and on the contrary, blind relative to the upper visible face A as shown in bottom view and in perspective in Figure 2; the height h of the notch 6, less than the total height of the vertical edge la, lb of the slabs 1 is equal to the total height of a boss 4 increased by the height of its pyramidal cap 41. It goes without saying that the two notches 6 provided on each edge la, lb of a same corner ^* have identical shapes and are symmetrically disposed relative to the vertical symmetry plane passing through the bisector of the corner of the slab 1.

We will now detail the mounting of the tiles 1 on the head 3 of a support 2, with reference to FIG. 3. The first slab 1 is positioned on the head 3 of a support 2 by approaching the corresponding corner so as to make its vertex coincide at the center 0 of the head 3 by a simple vertical movement perfectly viewable by the fitter, the slab 1 is then lowered to the contact of the head 3 by its lower face B; at this instant, the notches 6 provided on the sides 1a, 1b of the slab 1 come into exact coincidence around the bosses 4 and 4 ′ which constitute at this instant two lateral stops preventing any movement of the slab 1 in the horizontal plane of the floor ; in fact, the slab 1 can neither move back nor move forward, nor can it perform a rotational movement for example around the axis ZZ ′. It is then advisable to assemble the adjacent slab l 'by proceeding in the same way: one brings the top of the corner of the slab in coincidence with the center 0 of the head 3 and one rests vertically the slab which comes to adjoin slab 1 and automatically fit into the bosses 4 'and 4 "in the same way as for the previous slab. The successive slabs 1 and l for example, then form around the boss 4' a housing created by the two notches 6 and 6 '' completely and precisely enclosing the boss 4 'integral with the support 2; when the mounting of the last two slabs l''and1''' are arranged on the head 3 of the support 2, the configuration shown schematically in FIG. 3 is obtained and the self-locking of the slabs thus obtained is then clearly understood. It appears clearly that none of the slabs can slide relative to each other, all the relative movements are counteracted by the combination of the 4.4 'bosses and housing formed by deu x successive notches 6,6 'of neighboring slabs 1.

It goes without saying that according to a variant not shown in the figures, one could execute the notches 6 so that they also open out on the upper face A of the slabs 1; this execution has the advantage of simplicity of machining since it suffices to cut the slab over its entire thickness; naturally this execution has the disadvantage of making visible the housings on the outside and therefore visible from the floor once fitted.

Incidentally, we better understand the advantage of the pyramidal cap 41 arranged on each boss 4; in fact, the cut sides 42 and 43 (FIG. 4) terminating the bosses 4 in their radial direction form an access ramp facilitating their engagement in the notches 6 when mounting the tiles on a support 2. It goes without saying that the cut sides 44,45 (FIG. 4) provide the same advantage of facilitating engagement in the lower part of the notches 6 in their direction, that is to say in the direction parallel to the edges of the slab 1.

With reference to FIG. 6, another embodiment variant of the system according to the invention will now be described, this time applied to metal slabs 11, conventionally consisting of a tank comprising a bottom plate of sufficient thickness for the mechanical strength of the floor, the edges of which are folded 90 ° upwards to form edges lia, 11b, which are here metal side skirts of the same thickness as the bottom of the tank forming the slab 11. The intersection of the two edges lia , 11b of the metal slab 11 form, as previously, the top link of the slab intended to come into coincidence with the vertices of neighboring slabs at the center 0 of the head 3 of the same support 2 comprising, as in the previous embodiment , the same bosses 4 advantageously provided with their pyramidal cap 41.

In this embodiment and in accordance with the representation in FIG. 6, provision is made to have notches 61 on each edge 11a, 11b of the slabs 11 arranged as before at equal distance from each vertex binds and in a completely symmetrical manner with respect to the plane passing through the bisector of the angle of the vertex lie. Of course, the notches 61 are obtained by cutting the side skirts to a height at least equal to the height of the bosses 4 surmounted by their cap 41 and a cut out of the bottom plate of the metal tray constituting the slab 11 over a distance d at most equal to half the thickness of a boss 4 as explained in the previous embodiment; thus, we obtain a notch 61 formed in part in the folding edge of the side skirts 11a, 11b of the metal tray constituting the slab 11. These notches 61 then play the same role as before by constituting between two neighboring slabs a housing of which the entry section is equal to the base section of a boss 4 which can therefore collaborate closely to position each slab and lock all of the slabs in their relative movement in the plane of the floor.

It goes without saying that one could imagine other executions combining the two examples which have been given previously; this is the case with slabs which would consist of a metal tray internally receiving a wooden panel which stiffens the slab thus formed. The notching 61 of the outer metal tray is then extended in the part of the wood until the dimensions desired to cooperate with the bosses 4. This slab comprising a solid panel inside a metal tray can then itself be covered on its upper part A with a metal plate for closing the assembly or any other coating which adorns all the tiles forming the floor such as decorative panel, carpet, etc.

Claims

1 - System for positioning and locking a plurality of polygonal slabs (1,11), presented or not in a metal tray covering the edges (la, lb) by side skirts (lia, 11b) arranged edge to edge in support on vertical supports (2) advantageously adjustable in height 2 to form a flat and continuous surface such as a raised floor characterized in that there is a notch (6,61) near the vertices (le, lie) of each slab (1,11) and at equal distance on the two consecutive edges (la, lb, lia, 11b) coming from said top (le, lie), said notch being hollowed out in the thickness of slab (1) at from the vertical edge (la, lb) of said slab or in the side skirt (lia, 11b), over a height (h) such that it opens at least on side B of the slab (1) or of the tank ( 11) coming into contact with the support head (3) of a support (2), which head (3) comprising a succession of bosses (4) erected towards the top and in the direction of the slab (1,11) to come to be embedded just in the base of the housing formed by the notches (6, 6 ', 61) opposite two slabs (1,1', 11) arranged flat and side by side, when the corresponding vertices (le, lie), near these notches (6, 6 ', 61), converge, for example in the center (0) of the head (3) of the support (2 ), said bosses being provided with a cap (41) of regular pyramidal shape facilitating the introduction of the bosses in the notches (6,61) of the slabs (1,11).

2 - System according to claim 1 characterized in that the polygonal tiles (1,11) are made of a solid material, for example compressed wood.

3 - System according to claim 1 characterized in that the polygonal tiles consist of a metal plate whose edges are turned perpendicularly upward to form the skirts (11a, 11b) of the tank (11) thus formed.

4 - System according to claim 1 characterized in that the polygonal tiles consist of a tray metallic (11) comprising raised skirts (11a, 11b) to form the edges of the slab inside which a solid panel, for example made of wood, is attached, just fitting into the tank. 5 - System according to any one of claims 1 to 4 characterized in that the bosses (4) have a rectangular parallelepiped shape and are arranged on the head (3) of the support (2) so that their major axis of symmetry converges towards the point of convergence of the vertices (le, lie) of the slabs (1,11) resting on the same support (2), for example towards the center of the head (3).

6 - System according to any one of claims 1 to 5 characterized in that one chooses the height (h) of the notches (6,61) in the edges (la, lb, lia, 11b) less than the height of said songs.