EP2157259A1

EP2157259A1 - Apparatus for laying tiles and/or decorative elements and relative method

Info

Publication number: EP2157259A1
Application number: EP09167809A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stefano Miani; Aurelio Carlos Morassutti
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-08-21
Filing date: 2009-08-13
Publication date: 2010-02-24
Also published as: ITUD20080189A1

Abstract

Apparatus (10) and method for laying tiles (11) and/or decorative elements on supports (12), comprising mobile means (13) to move pick-up and disposition members (17) of the tiles (11). The apparatus (10) also comprises reference devices (30) to identify a deposit region for the tiles (11) and/or the decorative elements, and visual detection devices (25), cooperating with the reference means (30), to detect information relating to the position and orientation of the deposit region, wherein the mobile elements (13) are moved, substantially in any direction whatsoever in automatic and/or semi-automatic manner, in correspondence with the deposit region according to the information.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns an apparatus, and relative method, for laying tiles and/or decorative elements on horizontal and/or vertical supports, such as floors, walls or any other type of support which needs a covering of tiles or the like, automatically and able to be set by the worker.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An automatic machine for laying tiles and/or decorative elements is known in the state of the art. Such apparatus normally comprises a structure of the bridge crane type provided with means to pick-up, align, move and lay one or more tiles. Such structure can slide on a plane parallel to the floor along two pairs of guides, or rails, coplanar with respect to each other and disposed in two directions perpendicular to each other.
One disadvantage of this known apparatus is that the structure is moved only in said two directions, creating constraints and limits to the laying of the tiles and difficulties in varying their geometric disposition. The variation of the disposition can be carried out only by means of laborious movements of the apparatus itself, which have to be carried out by various specialized operators.
Another disadvantage of the known apparatus is that it can be bulky and also has a structural complexity which makes both its assembly and installation difficult, with all the costs in time and manpower that this entails.
Purpose of the present invention is to make an apparatus for the automatic laying of tiles and/or decorative elements which has a plurality of degrees of freedom of movement, which is structurally simple, not very bulky and does not need many operators to manage it.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea.
In accordance with the above purpose, an apparatus for laying tiles and/or decorative elements on supports, such as floors, walls or any other support which needs covering with tiles or the like, comprises mobile means, such as for example, but not only, a mobile slider provided with tracks and/or wheels, able to move means to pick up and dispose the tiles and/or the decorative elements.
According to a characteristic feature of the present invention, the apparatus also comprises reference means able to identify a deposit region of the tiles and/or the decorative elements, and visual detection means, cooperating with the reference means, able to detect information relating to the position and the orientation of the deposit region, in which said mobile means are able to be moved, substantially in any direction in an automatic and/or semi-automatic manner, in correspondence with the deposit region depending on said information.
According to a variant of the present invention said pick-up and disposition means are able to vary the orientation and the positioning of the tiles and/or decorative elements depending on said information.
According to a further variant of the present invention the reference means are able to emit beams of light defining the borders of the deposit region of the tiles and/or decorative elements.
According to another variant of the present invention the pick-up and disposition means are provided with plate means having a surface in correspondence with which said beams of light are able to be projected.
According to a further variant of the present invention the visual detection means are able to detect said beams of light projected on said surface, to obtain the information relating to the position and orientation of the deposit region of the tiles and/or the decorative elements.
The apparatus according to the present invention allows a versatile laying of tiles and/or decorative ornaments. The mobile means are substantially movable in any direction and therefore have a plurality of degrees of freedom which allow a desired and predetermined deposit thereof in correspondence with the deposit region of the tiles and/or the decorative elements identified by the reference means.
The use of the visual detection means allows to correct any possible incorrect positioning of the tiles before they are laid, thus guaranteeing, in any operating condition, that they are laid precisely.
Moreover, thanks to the information coming from said visual detection means, the mobile means are easily moved and oriented substantially in an automatic and/or semi-automatic manner, in correspondence with the desired deposit region of the tiles and/or the decorative elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

fig. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for laying tiles and/or decorative elements according to the present invention; and
fig. 2 is a detail of the apparatus in fig. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF EMBODIMENT

With reference to fig. 1, an apparatus 10 according to the present invention is able to be used for the automatic and/or semi-automatic laying of tiles 11 and/or decorative elements on horizontal and/or vertical supports 12, such as floors, walls or any other type of support 12 which needs a covering of tiles or the like.
The apparatus 10 comprises a mobile slider 13 provided, in this case, with a substantially L-shaped frame 14, in which the long side 15 of the frame 14 defines a resting plane P for the tiles 11 which have to be laid, or it substantially defines a temporary storage area for the tiles 11. The mobile slider 13 is also provided with tracks 16 or wheels, disposed below said long side 15, and with an electric motor, or any other type of motor member, to move them. The mobile slider 13 is therefore able to be moved substantially in any direction.
The mobile slider 13 also comprises a pick-up and laying device 17, of the Cartesian type, that is, able to be moved in the directions defined by the three axes of a Cartesian reference system. In particular said pick-up and laying device 17 comprises a pair of longitudinal guides 18 disposed raised with respect to said resting plane P by means of a plurality of supports 19 associated with the longitudinal guides 18. The longitudinal guides 18 are connected at a first of their ends by a transverse connection element 24. Both the longitudinal guides 18 have an equal portion protruding with respect to the resting plane P, to define a cantilevered area 20.
The pick-up and laying device 17 also comprises a transverse guide 21 able to slide along said longitudinal guides and a vertical guide 22, able to slide along said transverse guide 21 and transversally with respect to the latter. The end of the vertical guide 22 is provided with a manipulator 23, in this case of the sucker type and pneumatically controlled, able to pick up and dispose the tiles 11.
It cannot be excluded however, that the manipulator can be of any type suitable for the purpose.
The pick-up and laying device 17 also comprises, substantially in correspondence with an intermediate zone of said transverse connection element 24, a visual detection device 25, comprising a camera, or other similar or comparable visual detection devices 25.
The visual detection device 25 is able to detect the position and the orientation of the mobile slider 13 in reference to the region in which each tile 11 must be placed.
In correspondence with the ends of the connection element 24, the pick-up and laying device 17 comprises support elements 26, able to support a plate 27, advantageously made of a metal material. In this case the plate 27 is of a rectangular shape, it has sizes substantially equal to the sizes of the cantilevered area 20, and is disposed above and in correspondence with the latter, so as to function substantially as a cover for said cantilevered area 20. The lower surface 34 of the plate 27 is covered with a coloring layer of great contrast, for example black, able to highlight traces of the beams of light striking the lower surface 34, as will be explained in more detail hereafter.
When setting up the apparatus 10, it is provided to use a panel, disposed above the cantilevered area 20, provided with a calibration grill, to calibrate the detection device 25.
The mobile slider 13 also comprises, associated transversally with the short side of the frame, a support element 28, comprising a metal plate, on which control and command means 29 are disposed, able to control the movement and in general any operation of the mobile slider 13, and to set, transmit and receive operating parameters for the mobile slider 13 and for the apparatus 10.
The apparatus 10 also comprises a reference device 30, comprising two sliding linear guides 31, connected to each other at one end so as to form a desired angle, on which sliding elements 32 are able to slide, able to emit a beam of light, of the laser type, orthogonal to the respective sliding linear guide 31 and to project it in correspondence with the support 12 on which the tiles 11 must be placed. The two beams of light emitted define the borders of the deposit region of the tiles 11 and/or the decorative elements and therefore identify the necessary reference to carry out the alignment of the tiles 11, without needing to trace any line on the support 12.
The reference device 30 also comprises a control unit 33, able to control the movement and the positioning of said sliding elements 32 along the sliding linear guides 31. The control unit 33 is able to receive and to transmit information relating to the positioning parameters of the sliding elements 32. The positioning parameters can be set by the user, either by means of a push-button panel, associated with the control unit 33, or by means of remote communication, for example by means of radio frequency transmission.
In a preferential form of embodiment, the reference device 30 is able to automatically regulate its own height from the ground depending on the irregularity of the support 12 on which the tiles have to be disposed, so as to guarantee under any circumstances a perfect alignment of the beams of light emitted.
The apparatus 10 according to the present invention as described heretofore functions as follows.
By means of the control and command unit 29, an operator sets the parameters relating to the point where the edges of the tile 11 will be positioned. The control and command unit 29 then sends the information regarding the parameters to the control unit 33, which commands the positioning of the sliding elements 32 along the sliding linear guides 31 depending on said parameters.
The mobile slider 13 is then moved along the support 12, in automatic and/or semi-automatic mode, so that the cantilevered area 20 finds itself located directly above the crossing of the two beams of light.
The beams of light are projected in correspondence with the lower surface of the plate 27 and the visual detection device 25, depending on the image detected on the lower surface of the plate 27, calculates the position and the orientation of the mobile slider 13.
The pick-up and laying device 17 then picks up the tile to be laid 11, by means of the manipulator 23, and by means of the information previously detected by the visual detection device 25, it corrects any possible incorrect positioning introduced after the pick-up, before disposing it on the support 12. Finally, the pick-up and laying device 17 positions the tile in the predetermined position.
It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the apparatus 10 as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.
For example, it falls within the scope of the present invention to provide the use of an automatic device for spreading adhesives on the surface of the tile 11 before it is laid.
It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of apparatus 10, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

Claims

Apparatus for laying tiles (11) and/or decorative elements on supports (12), comprising mobile means (13) able to move pick-up and disposition means (17) of said tiles (11), characterized in that it also comprises reference means (30) able to identify a deposit region for said tiles (11) and/or said decorative elements, and visual detection means (25), cooperating with said reference means (30), able to detect information relating to the position and orientation of said deposit region, wherein said mobile means (13) are able to be moved, substantially in any direction whatsoever in automatic and/or semi-automatic manner, in correspondence with said deposit region according to said information.
Apparatus as in claim 1, characterized in that said pick-up and disposition means (17) are able to vary the orientation and positioning of said tiles (11) and/or decorative elements according to said information.
Apparatus as in claim 1, characterized in that said reference means (30) comprise at least two guide means (31), connected to each other at one end so as to form a desired angle, on which respective sliding elements (32) are able to slide, able to emit a corresponding beam of light, wherein the beams of light define the borders of the deposit region of said tiles (11) and/or said decorative elements.
Apparatus as in claim 3, characterized in that said reference means also comprise control means (33) able to control the movement and positioning of said sliding elements (32) along said guide means (31).
Apparatus as in claim 3, characterized in that said pick-up and disposition means (17) comprise plate means (27) provided with a surface (34) on which the beams of light of said sliding elements (32) are able to be projected.
Apparatus as in claim 5, characterized in that said visual detection means (25) are able to detect said beams of light projected onto said surface (34) in order to obtain said information relating to the position and orientation of the deposit region of said tiles (11) and/or said decorative elements.
Method for laying tiles (11) and/or decorative elements on supports (12), by means of an apparatus (10) comprising mobile means (13) able to move pick-up and disposition means (17) of said tiles (11), characterized in that it comprises at least a step in which reference means (30) identify a deposit region for said tiles (11) and/or said decorative elements, and visual detection means (25), cooperating with said reference means (30), detect information relating to the position and orientation of said deposit region, and said mobile means (13) are moved, substantially in any direction whatsoever, in correspondence with said deposit region according to said information.
Method as in claim 7, characterized in that said step comprises at least a substep in which said pick-up and disposition means (17) vary the orientation and positioning of said tiles (11) and/or said decorative elements according to said information.
Method as in claim 7, characterized in that said step comprises at least a substep in which said reference means (30) emit beams of light defining the borders of the deposit region of said tiles (11) and/or said decorative elements.
Method as in claim 9, characterized in that said step comprises at least a substep in which said beams of light are projected in correspondence with a surface (34) of plate means (27) of said pick-up and disposition means (17).
Method as in claim 10, characterized in that said visual detection means (25) detect said beams of light projected onto said surface (34) in order to obtain said information relating to the position and orientation of the deposit region of said tiles (11) and/or said decorative elements.