FR2695986A1 - Thermal insulating plate for soil heating installation - has distributed polygonal pads on truncated pyramid connectors on top surface with interconnecting channels and ribs - Google Patents

Abstract

The plate has pads regularly distributed on the top surface, each pad (2) being connected to plate (1) by a connector (3). The connector widens out, as a shoulder, from the pad to the plate top. Each pad may be of polygon form and the connector shaped like a truncated pyramid. The pads may be placed at the nodes of a regular quadrilateral with a straight channel, width (d), between two diagonal rows of pads. The points and connectors may be joined by ribs (5) and vacuum covered by a watertight thermoformed film. ADVANTAGE - Simple and economic, supports without deterioration, providing good protection of channels.

Description

 The present invention relates to a thermally insulating plate for floor heating installation.

 Thermally insulating plates are already known, for example made of expanded polystyrene which are intended to allow the installation of floor heating coils.

 When producing the floor of a building, such plates are available over the entire surface of the ground, which is generally constituted by a concrete slab, and a flexible pipe is positioned on said plates by making it follow a path corresponding to optimal room heating.

 I1 then remains only to pour a cement screed which completely covers the flexible pipe and the plates to form the final floor.

 Each plate is provided with studs regularly distributed on its upper face.

 The height and spacing of the studs are greater than the diameter of the pipe, so that the latter can be inserted between the studs which thus protect it from the risks of deterioration to which it is exposed between the time it is placed on the plates and the when the screed is poured to make the floor.

 Indeed, during this period, people working in the building can be brought to walk on the plates or to let different tools or containers rest there.

 However, the traditionally cylindrical shape of such studs gives them relative fragility, in particular at the level of their base which is liable to collapse when they are subjected to significant pressure.

 The present invention aims to provide a new plate of thermally insulating material, in particular expanded polystyrene, for the underfloor heating installation which solves this problem while being simple and economical to produce.

 The subject of the present invention is a thermally insulating plate for a floor heating installation, comprising studs regularly distributed on its upper face, characterized in that each stud is connected to the plate by a connecting part which goes away widening from said pad to the upper face of said plate.

 Such a connecting part strengthens each stud which is thus more able to withstand forces without deteriorating, which provides better protection of the flexible pipe placed on the plate between the studs.

 In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the studs have a polygonal section and the connecting part is preferably in the form of a truncated pyramid.

 Advantageously, the studs are placed at the nodes of a regular grid, in which the studs of two contiguous diagonal rows are sufficiently spaced to release in said diagonal direction a rectilinear passage of at least the width of a pipe.

 Preferably, the width of said diagonal passage corresponds substantially to the outside diameter of the pipe, so that the latter is naturally held in place between the studs of two contiguous diagonal rows, without it being necessary to fix it using of jumpers, as is the case with known plates.

 In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the studs are interconnected by ribs which fulfill the dual role of stiffening the plate and slightly elevating the pipe with respect to the upper face of the plate, so as to reduce the direct contact between the latter and the pipe, which favors the subsequent coating of the latter with the cement used for the screed.

 In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the thermally insulating plate is covered with a waterproof film, for example made of polyethylene, which is intended to prevent moisture transfers from the screed to the plate.

 In a first variant, the waterproof film is formed on the plate by projection, in particular by vaporization of the product of which it is made.

 In another preferred variant, the waterproof film is applied to the plate by thermoforming and vacuum plating.

In order to better understand the invention, we will now describe an embodiment given by way of example and without any limiting character with reference to the accompanying drawing in which
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of part of the upper face of a plate according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, and
- Figure 2 is a top view of an assembly of plates according to Figure 1 and a heating pipe.

 We see in Figure 1 a portion of a plate 1 of expanded polystyrene on which pads 2 are arranged, in this case, at the nodes of a regular grid.

 In the illustrated embodiment, each pad is in the form of a right prism with an octagonal base.

 According to the invention, each stud is extended by a connecting part 3 which widens from the base 4 of the stud to the upper face of the plate 1.

 The connecting part 3 has the shape of a pyramidal trunk with an octagonal base, the upper face of which corresponds to the octagonal section of each stud 2.

 Preferably, the flexible heating pipe is positioned in a diagonal direction relative to the grid along which the studs are distributed on the plate.

 To this end, the pads 2 are sufficiently spaced that there remains between them a rectilinear passage represented in broken lines in FIG. 1.

 The width d of this rectilinear passage preferably corresponds to the diameter of the flexible pipe, so that the latter is blocked between studs arranged in staggered rows on either side of the pipe.

 In the illustrated embodiment, the studs 2 are interconnected by ribs 5 which serve as support for the pipe to raise it so as to improve its coating during the subsequent pouring of the screed.

 Simultaneously, such ribs 5 participate in the rigidity of the plate I.

 Figure 2 shows a top view of a floor covered with a plurality of plates as described above, on which a pipe 6 is positioned.

 Line 6 forms a coil which constitutes the heating circuit of the room thus equipped.

 We see that the pipeline is maintained on the plate in diagonal directions relative to the grid of the studs.

 The outside diameter of said pipe is substantially equal to the width d of the rectilinear passage left free between two diagonal rows of studs.

 In the configuration described, the pipe 6 has a point of change in curvature 7 where it is held by a jumper 7.

 The various plates which constitute the floor comprise at their periphery assembly members 8 which fit into each other, each plate comprising two edges provided with male organs and two edges provided with female organs so that, in properly orienting the plates when they are placed on the ground, they can be assembled together by making the assembly members cooperate 8.

 It is understood that the embodiment which has just been described does not have any limiting character and that it can receive any desirable modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (5)

 1 - Thermally insulating plate for underfloor heating installation, comprising studs regularly distributed on its upper face, characterized in that each stud (2) is connected to the plate (1) by a connecting part (3) which goes by widening from said stud (2) to the upper face of said plate (1).  2 - Plate according to claim 1, characterized in that each stud (2) has a polygonal section and that the connecting part (3) is in the form of a pyramid trunk.  3 - Plate according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the studs (2) are placed at the nodes of a regular grid in which there remains a rectilinear passage for a pipe (6) between two diagonal rows contiguous plots.  4 - Plate according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises ribs (5) between the studs (2).  5 - Plate according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is covered with a waterproof film applied by thermoforming and vacuum plating.