GB2035435A

GB2035435A - Improvements in and relating to floor panels

Info

Publication number: GB2035435A
Application number: GB7906659A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-11-28
Filing date: 1979-02-26
Publication date: 1980-06-18
Also published as: ES241579Y; BE874010A; GR67625B; NL7900711A; LU80842A1; IT1123992B; SE7900563L; DE2851383A1; ES241579U; PT69195A; FR2442934A1; IT7915132V0; IT7912477A0

Abstract

A floor panel which is laid on a supporting construction to provide a base on which a secondary floor covering such as a textile-based carpet or plastics tiles is laid includes an upper sheet steel plate formed from two thin sheet steel plates (26, 28) bonded by a layer of adhesive (30) sandwiched therebetween. The composite plate is stuck onto knobs (20) which extend from a base plate of thermally insulating material and heating pipes (22) extend between the knobs (20) and are looped beneath the plates (26, 28). A layer of adhesive applied to the underside of the lower sheet steel plate (28) forms an array of parallel ridges on the underside thereof. In order to produce an interlocking between adjoining panels, the upper plate (28) is staggered at least along one edge and preferably two edges in relation to the lower plate (26) in each panel so as to produce an overhang along two edges and a rebate along the other two edges of each panel. By appropriately positioning adjoining panels so the overhang along an adjoining edge of one panel will overlie the rebate of the adjoining panel edge and a layer of adhesive will serve to bond the overlapping panel edges together. The adhesive is preferably a two- part adhesive and has sound- deadening characteristics and/or additives. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in and relating to floor panels Field of invention The invention concerns floor panels. The invention is particularly concerned with flooring of the type in which plates or panels are laid on a supporting construction and in which each panel consists of a base plate with knobs projecting therefrom, heating pipes laid between them and turning over the whole floor, and with a floor plate of sheet steel laid thereover, which is capable of being walked on and which is fixed to the knobs with an adhesive.

Background to the invention and prior art Flooring of this kind is already known. Such floor panels are used in the production of prefabricated heating systems. The installation plates, made of foam plastic, are laid on a supporting floor construction, e.g. a concrete bed. Flexible pipes, made of some form of plastic, are laid running up and down, in loops, between the knobs, the distance between the lengths of the single strips running up and down conforming to local heating needs. Different distances occur. They cause the room to be heated uniformly. The ends of the heating pipe are connected, on the outward and inward run, to a central heating system. Steel plates are coated on one side with a layer of adhesive. This adhesive is applied with e.g. a spatula or brush. With this sticky side down, the sheet steel plates are laid on the knobs and pressed down.They seal off the construction, consisting of installation plates and heating pipes, from above, and form a floor layer which is capable of being walked on. A further floor-covering, such as a textile-based carpet or plastic tiles, is laid on the sheet steel plates.

The thickness of the sheet steel plates is determined by the required load-bearing capacity of the floor. A thickness of the order of 1.5 mm has been shown to be necessary and normal. A sheet steel plate with a thickness of 1.5 mm can have internal tensions. These lead to the rejection of the tiles and the formation of waves. The waves must be eliminated, either before or at the time of laying and fixing. This, of course, makes the mounting difficult. The load-bearing capacity of a floor unit comprising a 1.5 mm thick sheet steel plate is sufficient for dwelling-house construction. It is, of course, limited to a calculable amount. Higher load-bearing capacities would require thicker sheet steel plates.

Greater thicknesses lead to greater degrees of tile rejection and wave formation. Thus there are practical limits to increasing the thickness of the sheet steel plates. Then laying down the sheet steel plates on the knobs, care must be taken to ensure that the first ones are put down with their edges resting on knobs, and not in the empty space between the individual knobs. Failure to do this can result in these edges being bent downwards by a localised loading.

Objects of the invention It is one object of the invention to construct a floor panel in such a way that it can accept higher loadings without the sheet steel plate being of such a thickness as to encourage the rejection of tiles and the formation of waves, and therefore increasing both cost and weight.

It is another object of the invention to simplify the laying of the sheet steel plates and the installation of a prefabricated heating system.

The invention According to the invention in a floor panel of the kind described, the floor plate consists of two sheet steel plates, one on top of the other secured by a layer of adhesive between them.

Thus, instead of a single sheet steel plate, according to the invention two thinner sheet steel plates are used, whose combined individual thicknesses is less than the thickness of the single sheet steel plate used hitherto. Instead of a single sheet steel plate with a thickness of e.g. 1.5 mm, two sheet steel plates each with a thickness of, for example, 0.625 mm are used. With plate thicknesses of this order it has been shown that, in spite of the decreased thickness overall and the correspondingly lower weight, the load-bearing capacity is approximately doubled.

This greater load-bearing capacity is explained by the fact that the distance between the upper and lower surfaces of the compound plate, made by putting two separate plates together, is greater than with the single plate used hitherto. The moment of resistance resulting from this distance is correspondingly increased. The increased thickness is brought about by the layer of adhesive between the two plates.

In the example quoted above in which the plates are 0.625 mm thick, the thickness of this adhesive layer is in excess of 0.25 mm, i.e. it is greater than the difference in thickness between the respective single sheet steel plate and the sum of the two separate plates in the sandwich construction according to the invention.

The thinner sheet steel plates employed in the invention are less prone to tile rejection or wave formation. In spite of the reduced thickness, the internal tensions which still exist, and which could lead to tile rejection or wave formation, are equalised and cushioned by sticking the two plates together, one on top of the other. The compound or sandwich con struction plate according to the invention is thereby largely free from tile rejection and waves.

The process of laying down and sticking down and, thus, the installation of the prefabricated heating system is greatly simplified.

According to a preferred feature of the invention, the two sheet steel plates are arranged so that they are staggered in relation to the knobs which support them, i.e. the lower sheet steel plate has an overlap at one end, and the upper sheet steel plate has an overlap at the other. These overlaps of the lower and upper sheet steel plates respectively are covered alternately. In this way the edge of a sheet steel plate is no longer free. The edge of an upper sheet steel plate is supported by a lower plate, and the edge of a lower sheet steel plate is supported by an upper sheet steel plate. When putting down the sheet steel plates on the knobs therefore it is no longer necessary to ensure that these lie with their edges substantially aligned with the centres of the knobs.The installation of a prefabricated floor and heating system embodying this feature is therefore still further simplified.

It is preferable for the two sheet steel plates to be staggered relative to each other, both along and across the floor. In this way the overlaps are provided in both directions, along and across the floor.

According to a preferred feature of the invention it is recommended that the layer between the two sheet steel plates should consist of a two-part adhesive. This leads to a completely fast joint. The two-part adhesive should preferably have sound-proofing characteristics which may be obtained by suitable additives. In this way, when the sheet steel plate is walked on, the sound of footsteps is considerably reduced.

In the foregoing, the mechanical and stable characteristics of the improved floor unit have been discussed. However, it must have certain thermal qualities as well. This means that the heat which is given off by the heating pipes, through which hot water runs, is spread as evenly as possible, and with minimai loss, over the floor plates. According to another preferred feature of the invention this spread or current of warmth is assisted if the adhesive layer which is applied to the under surface of the lower sheet steel plate has raised ridges running parallel to each other. These ridges which project into the air space between the heating pipes and the knobs increase the effective surface on the underside of the sheet steel plates. In this way the spread of heat is substantially improved.

These ridges may be formed by applying the adhesive with a comb-like, toothed spatula to the underside of the lower sheet steel plate.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of two sheet steel plates making a floor plate, together with two layers of adhesive, Figure 2 is, to a somewhat larger scale, a section along the line ll-ll in Fig. 1, Figure 3 is a perspective representation, partly sectional and partly broken away, of a supporting floor construction with a prefabricated heating system consisting of floor panels embodying the invention, mounted on it, Figure 4 is, to a larger scale, a section along the line IV-IV in Fig. 3, Figure 5 is a diagrammatic representation of the bending effect of a floor plate, constructed as an embodiment of the invention, under a point load, and Figure 6 is a diagrammatic representation of the bending effect of a floor plate, constructed as an embodiment of current technology, under a point load.

Detailed description of the drawings Fig. 3 shows part of a supporting floor construction 1 2 or layer and part of a wall 14 of a building. These enclose a room which is to be heated by means of a prefabricated heating system. Thus, the installation plates 1 6 lie on the supporting floor construction 1 2. The installation plates 1 6 consist of the base plates 1 8 with knobs 20. The knobs 20 are of different widths. In the bigger knobs there are cavities. The heating pipe 22 is laid between the knobs 20 in loops running up and down.

The floor plate 24, which is to be walked on, lies on the knobs 20.

The enlargement in the circular cut-out in Fig. 3 shows that this consists of several tiers and layers. These are shown, in greater scale, in Figs. 1 and 2.

The lower sheet steel plate 26 and the upper sheet steel plate 28 lie one on top of the other. The layer 30 of a two-part adhesive is situated between the two sheet steel plates and holds them together.

Fig. 1 shows an overlapping on both sides of the two sheet steel plates 26 and 28. The lower sheet steel plate 26 extends with an overlap 32 under the upper sheet steel plate 28. This extends with an overlap 34 over the lower sheet steel plate 26. In this way, the joints are displaced in relation to each other.

They do not lie above each other.

The heating system is covered or sealed at the top by a floor covering 38.

In Fig. 3 a floor covering of this type is drawn in detail. The underside of the floor plate 24 i.e. of the lower sheet steel plate 26 is coated with a layer 40 of adhesive. This is applied with a toothed spatula or tool to form ridges 42. The application occurs in such a thickness that the adhesive runs down into the spaces between the knobs 20. In this way, clots 44 are formed. The clots 44 give the floor plate 24 an additional anchorage against side forces. The clots 44 which extend down to the heating pipe 22, and in places even surround it, further increase the passage of warmth from the heating pipe 22 into the floor plate 24. The ridges 42 also improve the passage of warmth. Thus carried out, they increase the effective surface of the underside of the floor plate 24.

The improved loading capacity of a floor panel constructed according to the invention is illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. The floor plate 24, constructed according to the invention, out of the two sheet steel plates 26 and 28 placed together, has a greater degree of solidity than the floor plate consisting of a single sheet steel plate. Consequently, the floor plate shown in Fig. 5 bends less under a point load than the floor plate 24 shown in Fig. 6, which is constructed according to the known state of the technology.

The overlapping of the two sheet steel plates 26 and 28 can also be seen in Fig. 4.

The joints 36 between the adjoining lower and upper sheet steel plates do not lie one above the other. In this way the floor plate 24 is, in its entirety, free of joints. In the section shown in Fig. 4 the joints 36 are situated over one of the bigger knobs 20. The joints 36 may, however, be situated above the empty space between two rows of knobs. Even then the sheet steel plates 26 and 28 would not bend downwards at their joints. As a result of their method of joining they support each other on both sides.

Claims

1. A floor panel for installation on a supporting floor construction and which comprises a base plate with knobs projecting from it between which heating pipes are laid, which run over the whole floor, and with a sheet steel floor plate which is capable of being walked on and which is laid on the knobs and fixed to them with an adhesive, characterised in that the floor plate consists of two superimposed sheet steel plates with a layer of adhesive situated between them.

2. Floor panel as claimed in claim 1 in which the two sheet steel plates are staggered so that the lower plate extends beyond the upper sheet at one end, and the upper sheet steel plate extends beyond the lower plate at the other end.

3. Floor panel as claimed in claim 2 in which the two sheet steel plates are also staggered so that the side edge of the upper plate extends beyond the side edge of the lower plate along one side and the side edge of the lower plate extends beyond the side edge of the upper plate along the opposite side.

4. Floor panel as claimed in claim 1 in which the adhesive between the two sheet steel plates is a two-part adhesive.

5. Floor panel as claimed in claim 4 in which the two-part adhesive possesses soundproofing characteristics or includes additives.

6. Floor panel as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 in which the layer of adhesive applied to the underside of the lower sheet steel plate has ridges running parallel to each other.

7. Floor panels constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.