EP2199490A2

EP2199490A2 - Removable surface covering

Info

Publication number: EP2199490A2
Application number: EP09380190A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Vicente- Francisco Sansano Marti
Original assignee: SANSANO MARTI VICENTE-FRANCISC
Current assignee: SANSANO MARTI VICENTE-FRANCISC
Priority date: 2008-12-19
Filing date: 2009-12-17
Publication date: 2010-06-23
Also published as: EP2199490A3; ES2362833B1; ES2362833A1

Abstract

The covering comprises, basically, tiles made of some plastic-material bases and some top plates joined to the bases, the latter including by their edges male and female anchoring elements which are complemented to each other in order to couple some tiles to one another.

The improvements comprise some characteristic anchoring elements (3 and 4) arranged below the fastening plane of the top plates (2), while said anchoring elements (3 and 4) extend from some short perimeter support legs (7') which are part of the plastic-material bases thus attaining greater rigidity as well as much more solid and stable anchoring between tiles.

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, according to the statement expressed in this specification, relates to some improvements introduced in the Patent of Invention no. P-200402065 , for: removable surface covering.
The invention improvements are applicable to surfaces of floors, balconies, gardens, swimming pool exteriors, home interiors, food-handling premises, etc.
It is easily mountable and removable, while allowing a correct, easy, and quick evacuation of water and fluids that may fall on the corresponding surface.
It comprises, basically, a bottom piece as plastic-material base or support made and another top piece made of material essentially ceramic, both joining by their contact faces, each pair of pieces comprising a tile module which anchors with the adjacent ones through the complementary coupling elements located on the perimeter edges of the base pieces made of plastic material.
Starting from this premise, the invention improvements are focused on a new structure of the coupling elements, thus attaining a better connection of the pieces, with greater stability, while the vertical removal of each tile module set is easier.
Also the location at the beginning of the coupling elements is novel, thus attaining more solid and strong anchoring.
Also, it includes means for centering the top piece with respect to the bottom one, while at the same time such means will allow a physical separation between the different tile modules.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Nowadays, there are different floor coverings, distinguishing the ones applicable to exterior surfaces to facilitate the evacuation of rain water and also in swimming pool areas.
In some cases the coverings comprise plastic-material pieces with hollow structure of a certain width which determines a bottom evacuation chamber.
These coatings can present hygiene issues, while aesthetically leaving much to be desired.
In other cases, the coatings comprise some bodies manufactured with porous materials, which certainly can evacuate certain water flow, but when this increases saturation is produced, so that the water will overflow over the free floor surface formed by said coatings. Moreover, the porosity of such bodies facilitates, in some cases, the growth of fungi and bacteria.
The Patent of Invention no. P-200402065 consists of a surface covering that comprises the combination of some bottom drainage support elements and some top plates attached over said support bodies, in such a way that when water falls over this covering, regardless whether it comes from rain, swimming pool or the like, this fluid does not remain on the externally seen surface, but reaches the bottom chamber formed by the drainage support elements, through separation grooves between the plates when these are made of ceramic material or similar.
All of these coverings, including the one corresponding to Patent of Invention no. P-200402065 , have the limitation of not being able to couple any of the perimeter edges, adjacent to each other, of the tile sets, and this limits the possibilities to move about the decoration of the ceramic pieces.
To encompass all of these possibilities, it would be necessary to place the decoration of the tiles on several different positions or join the ceramic piece to the base on several positions, which would complicate the whole process.
The Patent of Invention no. 200700449 , even when solving the last aforementioned challenges, includes some weak anchoring elements which can hinder the mounting and removing of the tile modules, as well as their stability.
Another drawback is that they do not include means to ensure a correct centering between the pairs of pieces of each tile module.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In order to achieve the objectives and avoid the drawbacks mentioned in the previous sections, the invention proposes some improvements introduced into Patent of Invention no. P-200402065 for: removable surface covering.
It comprises some drainage support elements found below some top plates which are attached over said support bodies, in such a way that when the water falls over that covering, regardless whether it comes from rain, swimming pool or the like, this fluid does not remain on the externally seen surface, but reaches the bottom chamber formed by the drainage support elements through separation grooves or furrows between the plates when these are made of ceramic material or similar.
This combination of elements provides an inhibiting covering, for both humidity and water retention, by means of fallen water reaching the bottom chamber formed by the support elements that are essentially made of plastic material.
The side edges of the plastic-material supports include coupling elements to secure the anchoring between such adjacent supports, and thereby that of the tile set.
The distribution of the coupling elements allows connecting a base support to another adjacent one in as many possible positions as the sides of those supports.
For example, it is most common that the respective supports and plates have a quadrangular shape, such that in this case the possible relative positions will be four. With a triangular shape, they will be three, with a hexagonal shape six, etc.
In order to achieve this range of possibilities, each side of the supports will have at least two coupling elements, one male and another female, uniformly distributed, all their sides having the same distribution of coupling elements in order to allow for a support to connect to another by any of their sides.
In this way, it is possible a wide range of possibilities, such that, for example, the plates having the same decoration placed in a given position, it is possible to obtain several combinations at the final result of the covering.
Starting from this premise, the invention improvements are focused, basically, on the male and female anchoring elements which present a polygonal structural characteristic whose planes are contained exactly in correspondence with the separation furrow or groove between adjacent tile modules.
Another characteristic of the invention is that the anchoring elements are shaped below the fastening plane of the top piece and are made to coincide with any of the short support legs which include the bottom drainage support elements, in order to gain rigidity, as otherwise it would produce weak anchors.
Another characteristic of the invention is that the base support perimeterly includes some thin small partition elements which act as means for retaining and centering the top piece or tile fastened over the base support.
The improvements are also characterized in that the small partition elements, mentioned in the previous paragraph, are placed off-center on all the sides, such that after the assembly, at no time the small partition elements of adjacent pieces are facing each other, as this could impair the separation joint between tiles.
Next, to facilitate a better understanding of this specification, and forming an integral part of the same, a series of figures in which the object of the invention has been represented with an illustrative and not limitative manner is attached.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 .- Shows an exploded perspective view of a tile set which forms part of a removable surface covering that includes the improvements of the invention. This tile set comprises, basically, a plastic-material base support and a top plate joined to the aforementioned base. The base support includes on its sides male elements and female elements in order to secure the anchoring between the tile sets.
Figure 2 .- Shows a plant view of a removable covering including several tile sets.
Figure 3 .- Shows a section view of a perimeter part of the base support wherein is represented a location of some perimeter small partition elements in order to center the top plate with respect to the plastic-material base support.
Figures 4 and 5 .- Show respective views of the male and female elements of the plastic-material base support.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Considering the numbering assumed in the figures, the removable surface covering with the improvements of the invention is determined from a plastic-material base over, with top faces attached by means of adhesive, respective plates of ceramic material or other materials 2 in order to form composite tiles which join to each other by means of male anchoring elements 3 and female anchoring elements 4 which are complemented to each other, and they start at the side edges of the aforementioned plastic supports 1 forming an integral part thereof.
The alternated distribution of the male 3 and female 4 elements, as well as the distance between them, allows placing a tile set 5 with respect to another one in as many positions as the number of tile sides, thus obtaining a wide range of possibilities in relation to the decorative patterns 6 of the free face of the top plates 2.
Therefore, the orientation at which the plastic supports 1 are located is not important, as they all are identical, their male 3 and female 4 anchoring elements being alternately distributed along all the perimeter limit of the plastic support 1. In this manner, a major ease of assembly of the facility is attained.
In this way, the sides of the base supports 1 will have the same length, at the same time each one of them will include pairs of anchoring elements: one female 4 and another one male 3, the distance between them being double the distance between each one of the extreme anchoring elements and the respective adjacent vertex of the base support 1.
If each side of the supports 1 includes four anchoring elements (male and female alternately arranged) as shown in the figures, the distance between them will be double the existing distance between each extreme anchoring element and the adjacent vertex closest to the tile set. The plastic-material supports 1 include on their bottom face some short floor support legs, central ones 7 and perimeter ones 7', thus generating an evacuation chamber for the water from rain, swimming pool, etc.
The male 3 and female 4 anchoring elements adopt a polygonal structure, essentially in a triangular form in the shape of a dovetail, with three planes overhanging or extending outside the perimeter of the plastic support, this at least in the case of the male anchoring element 3. This configuration improves the connection of the pieces and it makes it more stable, allowing likewise the vertical removal of the tile.
The male 3 and female 4 anchoring elements are shaped below the fastening plane of the ceramic piece 2 while such anchoring elements 3 and 4 are made to coincide with some of the short perimeter floor support legs 7', in order to gain rigidity and solidity by making said anchoring elements integral with 7'.
On the other side, some small longitudinal partition elements 8 start at, and surround, the free edge of the sides of the plastic-material base support 1, said partition elements function as means of centered retention and location of the ceramic plates 2 which lay on the top face of the plastic support 1 fastening thereto.
Said longitudinal small partition elements 8 are distributed in such a way that after the assembly, at any moment, none of the small partition elements of the adjacent tiles 5 face each other, as this could impair the separation furrow or groove 9 between tiles 5, said small partition elements 8 being contained in correspondence with the separation groove 9 between tiles 5.
The triangular shape of the male 3 and female 4 anchoring elements provide an important advantage, namely, that the width or separation between tiles can be reduced further, generating thinner joints, in contrast with other previously known coupling which generate thicker joints.

Claims

IMPROVEMENTS INTRODUCED INTO THE PATENT OF INVENTION NO. P-200402065, FOR: REMOVABLE SURFACE COVERING, comprising the covering, tiles formed by a plastic-material base with short floor supports and some top plates which join at one of their contact faces, moreover the plastic support edges including male and female anchoring elements as means of joint between tiles that are alternately arranged over all the outline of the plastic support (1), at least according to pairs of anchoring elements, male and female, on each side of the plastic support, the distance between them being double the distance between each extreme anchoring element and the adjacent vertex closest to the anchoring edge; characterized in that the anchoring elements (3 and 4) adopt a polygonal structure, with planes contained in the separation grooves (9) between tiles (5), said anchoring elements (3 and 4) being arranged below the fastening plane of the top plates (2), and said anchoring elements (3 and 4) starting at some of the short perimeter floor support legs (7').
IMPROVEMENTS INTRODUCED INTO THE PATENT OF INVENTION NO. P-200402065, FOR: REMOVABLE SURFACE COVERING, according to claim 1, characterized in that the polygonal structure of the anchoring elements (3 and 4) present a configuration in the shape of dovetail.
IMPROVEMENTS INTRODUCED INTO THE PATENT OF INVENTION NO. P-200402065, FOR: REMOVABLE SURFACE COVERING, according to any one of the previous claims, characterized in that perimeter thin small partition elements (8) are included; which start at the free edge of the sides of the base support (1), small partition elements which are arranged in correspondence with the separation groove (9) between tiles (5), and over said small partition elements the ceramic plates (2) are in contact by their perimeter edges.
IMPROVEMENTS INTRODUCED INTO THE PATENT OF INVENTION NO. P-200402065, FOR: REMOVABLE SURFACE COVERING, according to claim 3, characterized in that the perimeter small partition elements (8) of the facing sides of two adjacent tiles are off-center to each other and contained in respective planes which in turn are in the separation groove (9) generated between the adjacent tiles (5).
IMPROVEMENTS INTRODUCED INTO THE PATENT OF INVENTION NO. P-200402065, FOR: REMOVABLE SURFACE COVERING, according to any one of the claims 3 or 4, characterized in that perimeter small partition elements (8) of the facing sides of two adjacent tiles, said small partition elements (8) are arranged on a same plane contained in the separation groove (9).