ES2552318T3 - Device for placing slugs - Google Patents

Abstract

Leveler (10) for the placement and leveling of slabs, tiles and the like comprising: - a support (60), which in turn comprises: • a base (62) that serves as support for two or more tiles (P, Q , S) contiguous, • at least one leg (66) protruding from said base (62) and which serves to rest on a edge of said two or more tiles (P, Q, S), thus forming a joint between said two or more tiles (P, Q, S) and having a height greater than the thickness of the two or more tiles (P, Q, S), • at least two coupling faces (75) located at a predefined distance of said base (62), said two or more coupling faces (75) project laterally from said one or more legs (66); - a wheel (12) comprising a ring-shaped main body (14) and at least two ramps (16) protruding from the inside of the main body (14), these two or more ramps (16) can be coupled to the two or more faces (75) of coupling of the support (60) when said wheel (12) is coupled to the support (60); characterized in that it also comprises a guide (38; 138; 238) that can be coupled to the support (60) and placed between the two or more tiles (P, Q, S) and the wheel (12).

Description

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Device for laying tiles.

The present invention relates, in general, to a tile leveler. Specifically, it is a leveler that allows two or more tiles to be placed at the same level with which it is in contact or in the vicinity.

As is known, there are several types of tile levelers on the market, capable of properly leveling several tiles.

In the construction sector, especially when laying tiles on floors or walls, the tiles are attached to supports that are not always perfectly flat.

The greatest difficulties that must be faced during laying are the elimination of the unevenness between the tiles and the realization of the joints, that is, the space that separates a tile from the adjacent one.

Known levelers typically comprise two elements: a support and a clamping body.

The support has a support base and a gantry structure whose position is perpendicular to the base.

The base is placed on the adhesive for laying tiles and on it two or more tiles are placed in part.

The base is placed so that the edges of two adjacent tiles are flush with the wall of the porch structure, remaining separated at a certain distance, which will constitute the joint.

The clamping body has the shape of a wedge, which is made to slide over the tiles until one of its surfaces touches the crossbar of the gantry structure in such a way that there is a thrust towards the clamping body, perpendicular to the placement plane of the tiles.

In this way the tiles, when pressed between the base and the wedge, are leveled.

Once the adhesive has dried, the wedge is removed and the gantry structure is removed causing it to break. Such breakage is generally facilitated by a predefined break notch, present between the base and the gantry structure.

In other words, the support is a disposable element, since one part of it is trapped between the tiles and the other is removed without being recoverable.

A disadvantage is that a backward movement of the wedge can misalign the tiles. Another undesirable result is the friction produced between the wedge and the tiles with which it comes into contact, often due to the presence of dust and other detrimental residues the surface and finish of the tiles, affecting the final aesthetic appearance of the floor or wall.

In addition, depending on the thickness of the tiles, the height of the crossbar of the gantry structure varies. As a consequence, the clamping body or wedge, in order to be used, must be complemented with chocks, or specific supports must be used for each variation in tile thickness. This multiplicity of necessary elements has an important impact on the provisioning costs.

Other known levelers include brackets that have a base on which an element is located that has a thread at the opposite end of the base, so that the element can be screwed onto the corresponding thread of a cylindrical element that is placed on top of the tiles .

Said cylindrical element, when screwed to the threaded element, exerts the traction function of the base exerted by the wedge.

In any case, the disadvantages related to the direct contact of the cylindrical element, which rubs the surface of the tiles, also persist in this case.

In addition, the load is applied at a single point, located where the threaded element joins the base, thus allowing alignment errors between the tiles or other problems to occur.

Another problem of the known levelers is their difficulty of use in the edges of the tiles, since at these points normally used separators normally called "crosspieces" to maintain the correct distance between the tiles.

The crosspieces are another disposable element, since they are placed at the junctions of the joints to maintain the correct distance between the tiles and are submerged with the placement.

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EP2514886A1 describes a leveler having the characteristics specified in the preamble of claim 1.

The objective of this invention is to develop a leveler that manages to overcome the problems of known systems.

Another objective is to develop a leveler that includes elements that can be operated more quickly and accurately.

Another additional objective is to avoid friction with the surface of the tiles that remains visible after placement.

All these and other objectives are achieved, according to the invention, thanks to a leveler for laying slabs, tiles and the like comprising:

a support, which in turn comprises:

or a base that supports two or more adjoining tiles,

or one or more legs protruding from said base and which serve to rest on a edge of said two or more tiles, thereby forming a joint between said two or more tiles and having a height greater than the thickness of the two or more tiles ,

or two or more mating faces located at a predefined distance from said base, said two or more mating faces protrude laterally from said one or more legs;

a wheel comprising a ring-shaped main body and two or more ramps protruding from the inside of the main body, these two or more ramps can be coupled to the two or more coupling faces of the support when the wheel is coupled to the support;

The leveler is characterized by further comprising a guide that can be attached to the support and placed between the two or more tiles and the wheel.

Thanks to this type of construction, the leveler according to the invention allows the guide to be placed between the wheel and the two or more tiles to be leveled, thus protecting the surface of the tiles and offering a regular coupling surface between the guide and the wheel.

The two or more ramps of the wheel are inclined so that when sliding they can be coupled to said two or more faces of coupling of the support, and thus with a rotation of the wheel the base of the support moves away or closer to the wheel. Modifying the inclination of the ramps along its length modifies the behavior of the leveler.

An advantage is that the leveler can comprise a numbering that indicates values correlated with the distance between the wheel and the support, so that a certain rotation of the wheel coupled to the support is visibly correlated with the distance between a point of the wheel and the base of the support.

Another advantage is that the numbering may appear on the wheel and each element of this numbering may correspond to an indicator and / or a radius, thus improving the visibility of the specific element of the nearby numbering.

On the other hand, said guide can comprise a cross with a main blade in which a groove allows the passage of said one or more legs and of said two or more coupling faces when the guide is coupled to the support by means of a sliding coupling system . With the cross shape, the material needed to construct the guide is minimized. The sliding coupling allows all the elements of the leveler to be correctly oriented during leveling operations.

Another advantage is that the guide can comprise two or more teeth protruding from the cross in the radial direction, in this way they are more visible and / or protrude more in a direction perpendicular to the radial and can separate said two or more tiles.

Another additional advantage is that the guide can comprise three teeth when the leveler is at a point where three tiles are located or, instead, four teeth when the leveler is at a point where four tiles are located. In this way, the T-crossing points of tiles and the crossing points of four tiles can also be easily leveled.

On the other hand, the guide can be made of several colors, so that each number of teeth has one or more colors uniquely related to that. Thus, an operator can more easily distinguish guides that have a different number of teeth.

Another advantage is that the support can comprise a base and an arch, said arch in turn comprises two legs and a crossbar, on the sides of which two arms protrude, on which the two or more coupling faces are located.

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On the other hand, said two or more ramps may comprise a section whose inclination coincides with the inclination of the two or more faces of the support and one or more additional sections whose inclination is different from that of the previously mentioned section. In this way the relationship between the rotation of the wheel and the vertical displacement of the base of the support can be modified.

Other features and details can be better understood with the following description, which is provided by way of example and without limitations, as well as with the accompanying drawings, where:

the figs. 1 and 2 show two axonometric views of a leveler, constructed according to the invention and arranged according to different inclinations;

the figs. 3 and 4 show a first component of a leveler according to the invention arranged according to an axonometric view and a sectional view;

the figs. 5 and 6 show two axonometric views of a second component of a leveler, constructed according to the invention and arranged according to different inclinations;

the figs. from 7 to 9 show a plan view of the second component of figures 5 and 6, constructed according to some variants of the invention;

the figs. from 10 to 13 show a third component of a leveler according to the invention, according to four different views;

fig. 14 shows an exploded drawing of a leveler according to the invention, in which the three separate components are seen;

the figs. from 15 to 17 show a leveler according to the invention coupled to a pair of tiles in three configurations, according to which the two tiles pass from a misaligned configuration (fig. 15) to an aligned configuration (fig. 17);

fig. 18 shows a floor composed of eight tiles to which eight levelers have been applied according to the invention.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, 10 indicates a leveler comprising a wheel 12, a guide 38 and a support 60.

As can be seen in Figures 3 and 4, the wheel 12 has an annular shape and comprises a main body 14 inside which two ramps 16 with central symmetry protrude with respect to the center of the wheel 12. Specifically, each ramp 16 starts in the vicinity of the lower face 18 and continues until reaching the upper face 20.

Each ramp 16 comprises three sections whose inclination is different from each other and are arranged one after the other. The first section 24 starts on the lower face 18 with a first inclination, for example twenty degrees, with respect to the lower face 18. The second section 26 has a second inclination, for example ten degrees, while the third section 28 has a third inclination, for example equal to the first inclination.

The lengths of the first section 24 and the third section 28 are smaller than the length of the second section 26.

Obviously the inclinations and lengths of the sections may be different from the previous examples.

On the outside of the main body 14, near the lower face 18, an edge 22 protrudes where the first part of the numbering 30 is located. In correspondence with each element of the first part of the numbering 30 an indicator 32 of the part stands out exterior of main body 14.

At regular angular intervals, ten radii 34 protrude from the outer part of the main body 14, in whose most distant part are the elements of the second part of numbering 30. The function of numbering 30 is described below.

Referring to Figures 5 and 6, guide 38 is described, comprising a cross 40 from which a tower 42 protrudes. The central hole 44 crosses the tower 42 and the cross 40.

The cross 40 comprises the main blade 46, characterized by its central symmetry with respect to the central hole 44. In the main blade 46 is the groove 48 that runs through most of the main blade 46 and also extends through the tower 42, as is See in figure 6.

At its ends, the slot 48 has two extensions 50, also characterized by its central symmetry with respect to the central hole 44. Near each extension 50 a tooth 52 protrudes. Each tooth 52 protrudes from the cross 40 both in the opposite direction to the vertical development of the tower 42 as with respect to the perimeter of the cross 40.

The secondary blade 54 has a shape similar to the main blade 46 and its position is perpendicular to the latter.

At the ends of the main blade 46 and the secondary blade 54 there are four flanges 56, of which only one is indicated in Figure 6.

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The guide 38, as a result of the plan view of Figure 7 and the description made, can be the object of some constructive variants.

As can be seen in Figures 8 and 9, the guide 138 comprises three teeth 52, while the guide 238 comprises four teeth 52, in both cases these teeth protruding from the respective secondary blades.

The presence of two, three or four teeth 52 makes it possible to use, respectively, the guide 38, the guide 138 or the guide 238 depending on where it is desired to position the leveler to optimize the set-up, as explained below.

In order to distinguish more easily guides that differ from each other by the number of teeth they have, each guide can be made with a material of a certain color, different from the other guides, thus allowing a faster selection of the guide more suitable for the different situations in which an operator may find himself at the time of commissioning and the subsequent leveling.

It is possible to easily obtain more than two teeth 52 with a single mold with moving parts, thanks to its particular position, which allows you to choose whether or not to perform them.

As can be seen in the figures from 10 to 13, the support 60 comprises a base 62 from which an arch 64 is raised comprising two legs 66 and a crossbar 68. In the center of the crossbar 68 a tip is raised 70, while two arms 72 protrude at the lateral ends of this same crossbar 68 whose thickness is greater than the crossbar 68 and the rest of the arch 64.

The face 74 of each arm 72, which is directed towards the base 62, has an inclined surface with a predefined angle, for example the second inclination of the second section 26 of the wheel 12, equal to ten degrees. Obviously, the inclination of the faces 74 can be modified according to the needs.

At the ends of the base 62, near the legs 66, the ailerons 76 protrude. Near the legs 66, the ailerons 76 have an incision 78.

At the ends of the legs 66, in the area of connection with the base 62, the notches 80 facilitate the localized breakage during the last stages of use of the leveler 10.

A possible use of one or more levelers according to the invention is described below.

As can be seen in figure 14, an operator can use the leveler 10 to level two or more tiles (not visible in the figure), first placing the support 60 and then the two or more tiles, so that the base 62 of the support 60 can be covered with tiles.

The edge of the tiles comes into contact with the two legs 66, so that it remains at the proper distance to form the joints as desired. The tip 70 and the two arms 72 protrude from the two or more tiles.

Then the operator couples the guide 38 to the support 60, maintaining the correct orientation of the guide 38 thanks to the extensions 50 that allow the passage of the arms 72, preventing the coupling from being different. IF the operator tried to couple the guide 38 in another way with the support 60, its shapes would not allow it. The only possible coupling is that described above, in which the tip 70 is inserted into the central hole 44 of the guide 38, the arms 72 are inserted into the extensions 50 and the crossbar 68 of the support 60 is inserted into the slot 48.

In this way the teeth 52 are introduced between the edges of the tiles, maintaining a suitable distance to achieve correct joints, with the aid of the legs 66.

In this way the guide 38 rests on the outer surfaces of the tiles at the same time as it is coupled with the support 60.

The operator then couples the wheel 12 to the guide 38, so that the first sections 24 of the ramps 16 can be inserted between the arms 72 of the support 60 and the cross 40 of the guide 38. The coupling of the lower face 18 of the wheel 12 with the flanges 56 of the guide 38 allows the correct centering of the two elements of the leveler 10.

Thanks to the numbering 30 the operator knows at all times the distance between the base 62 and the cross 40 of the guide 38. As can be seen in figure 14, next to the first section 24 of the ramp 16 the numbering comprises the number sixteen , which appears in rays 34.

Thanks to the numbering 30, the operator, by turning the wheel 12 clockwise, makes the faces 74 of the arms 72 of the support 60 come into contact with the ramps 16 of the wheel 12.

As the rotation of the wheel 12 increases, the distance between the base 62 of the support 60 and the cross 40 of the guide 38 decreases, until said distance coincides with the thickness of the tiles. The operator can control that this happens thanks to the numbering 30, regulating at all times the torque that applies to the wheel 12 to turn it.

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Thanks to the dimensions of the ramps 16, with the leveler 10 many tiles of different thicknesses can be placed, simply adapting the rotation of the wheel 12 to the thickness of the tiles that the operator has to place.

With the leveler 10, tiles with a thickness of four to sixteen millimeters can be laid, that is, almost all the tiles available in the construction sector. Obviously these dimensions are not limiting in relation to the invention, since if the tiles used and their thickness varied, a leveler 10 of suitable dimensions could be constructed.

As can be seen in Figures 15 through 17, the leveler 10 is used to level a first tile P and a second tile Q that is misaligned with respect to the first tile P, as in Figure 15; the base 62 of the support 60 can be seen in contact with the bottom of the second tile Q and at the same time separated from the bottom of the first tile P. To maintain a correct lateral proximity between the first tile P and the second tile Q, between both the teeth 52 of the guide 38 are placed.

When the operator turns the wheel 12, the above-described couplings between the ramps 16 of the wheel 12 and the arms 72 of the support 60 allow the second tile Q to be raised, so that it aligns more and more with the first tile P. De this mode is progressively passed to the configuration of figure 16, until an aligned configuration is reached, as can be seen in figure 17, in which the first tile P and the second tile Q are kept in an aligned configuration when they are caught between the guide 38 and base 62 of support 60.

When moving from the misaligned configuration of Figure 15 to the aligned configuration of Figure 17, the ailerons 76 of the support 60 are the first to come into contact with the bottom of the tiles. The ailerons 76 are then deformed in such a way that the entire surface of the base 62 comes into contact with the bottom of the tiles. In this way the ailerons 76 allow the gradual approach of the base 62 to the bottom of the tiles.

The leveler 10 is kept in the aligned configuration of Figure 17 until the adhesive used to lay the tiles solidifies or until conditions of fixing the tiles are reached in which it is no longer possible to modify their position.

It will then be possible to remove the leveler 10, from the barely made floor or wall, by turning the wheel 12 in the opposite direction to that used previously to level the tiles.

It will be sufficient to apply a slight force to cause the breakage where the notches 80 are located, so that the base 62 is hidden, eliminating the part just separated from the support 60.

In case of having to level and center a set of tiles larger than two tiles, for example as in Figure 18, with four tiles P and four tiles S, a number of wheels 12 and supports 60 equal to the number of points can be used it is desired to level, coupling them to one of the variants of guides described above and thus varying the number of teeth 52 in action.

Four levelers are used along the edges of the four tiles P, each comprising a guide 38 and each guide 38 is placed with the corresponding teeth 52 along the edges of the four tiles P. The teeth 52 allow the space between one tile and another is correct. In fact, these levelers are used to level and separate two adjacent tiles.

At the junction of the joints between four tiles P and at the junction of the joints between two tiles P and two tiles S, two levelers are used, each of which comprises a guide 238, that is, with four teeth 52, also guaranteeing in this case a correct leveling and the maintenance of the correct distance between the tiles and obtaining joints of correct size.

Finally, at the meeting point between a edge of a tile P and two tiles S, two levelers are used, each of which comprises a guide 138 with three teeth 52. Said meeting point can be defined as a T-point.

Thanks to the leveler according to the invention, an operator can easily level the tiles he places and at the same time maintain the correct distance between them, with joints of the appropriate size. In addition, the crosspieces of the known technique, which are submerged in the joints, with considerable savings may not be used.

On the other hand, all friction with the tile surfaces that take place when using levelers according to the known technique is avoided, since the coupling between the support and the guide made according to the invention is stable and the rotation of the wheel takes place only between this and the guide, without friction with the surface of the tiles, thus preserving its aesthetics and surface finish.

In addition, other variants can be made, which are considered to be included in the protection framework defined by the following claims. For example, the leveler according to the invention may comprise a support with a base without ailerons.

Claims (1)

5 10 fifteen twenty 25 30 35 40 Four. Five 1) Leveler (10) for the placement and leveling of slabs, tiles and the like comprising: a support (60), which in turn comprises: or a base (62) that supports two or more adjacent tiles (P, Q, S), or at least one leg (66) protruding from said base (62) and which serves to rest on a edge of said two or more tiles (P, Q, S), thus forming a joint between said two or more tiles (P, Q, S) and having a height greater than the thickness of the two or more tiles (P, Q, S), or by the at least two coupling faces (75) located at a predefined distance from said base (62), said two or more coupling faces (75) protrude laterally from said one or more legs (66); a wheel (12) comprising a ring-shaped main body (14) and at least two ramps (16) protruding from the inside of the main body (14), these two or more ramps (16) can be coupled to the two or more faces (75) of coupling of the support (60) when said wheel (12) is coupled to the support (60); characterized in that it also comprises a glutton (38; 138; 238) that can be coupled to the support (60) and placed between the two or more tiles (P, Q, S) and the wheel (12). 2) Leveler (10) according to the preceding claim, wherein said two or more ramps (16) of the wheel (12) are inclined so that when sliding they can be coupled to said two or more faces (75) of support coupling (75). 60), and thus with a rotation of the wheel (12) the base (62) of the support (60) moves away or closer to the wheel (12). 3) Leveler (10) according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a numbering (30) indicating values correlated with the distance between the wheel (12) and the support (60), so that a certain rotation of the wheel ( 12) coupled to the support (60) is visibly correlated with the distance between a point on the wheel (12) and the base (62) of the support (60). 4) Leveler (10) according to the preceding claim, in which the numbering (30) appears on the wheel (12) and in which each element of this numbering (30) corresponds to an indicator (32) and / or a radius (34 ), thus improving the visibility of the specific element of the nearby numbering (30). 5) Leveler (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said glutton (38; 138; 238) comprises a cross (40) with a main blade (46) in which a groove (48) allows the passage of said one or more legs (66) and said two or more coupling faces (75) when the guide (38; 138; 238) is coupled to the support (60) with a sliding coupling system. 6) Leveler (10) according to the preceding claim, wherein the guide (38; 138; 238) comprises at least two teeth (52) protruding from the cross (40) in radial direction, thus being more visible and / o protrude more in a direction perpendicular to the radial and can separate said two or more tiles (P, Q, S). 7) Leveler (10) according to one of claims 5 or 6, wherein the guide (138) comprises three teeth (52) when the leveler (10) is at a point where three tiles (P, S) or , on the other hand, four teeth (52) when the leveler (10) is at a point where there are four tiles (P, S). 8) Leveler (10) according to the preceding claim, wherein the guide (38; 138; 238) is made of several colors, so that each number of teeth (52) has at least one color uniquely related to that. 9) Leveler (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the support (60) comprises a base (62) and an arc (64), said arc in turn comprises two legs (66) and a crossbar (68) , on the sides of which two arms (72) protrude, on which are the two or more faces (75) of engagement. 10) Leveler (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said two or more ramps (16) comprise a section (26) whose inclination coincides with the inclination of the two or more faces (75) of the support (60) and at least one additional section (24, 28) whose inclination is different from that of the section (26) mentioned above.