GB2402405A

GB2402405A - Stackable batten support

Info

Publication number: GB2402405A
Application number: GB0313088A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Keith James Hunter Anderson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-06-06
Filing date: 2003-06-06
Publication date: 2004-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 2023-06-06
Also published as: GB2402405B; GB0313088D0

Abstract

A stackable batten support 2 preferably has a plurality of upstanding lugs 6 between which a batten may be positioned. It may have at least one recess in its base 4 which receives the upstanding lugs of a corresponding batten support when stacked, and this recess may contain an insulating member. At least one of the lugs may have a locating member 14 to engage with the base. The support may be substantially circular and have a central fixing location 18 about which it can be rotated. Spacers 28 of rubber or foam may be inserted into the support, preferably in between the lugs, to incrementally fix its height. The base may be hollow and have a grid of supporting ribs 26, fig 4. The batten support may be made of plastic and may be used particularly for sound insulated flooring or in walls and ceilings to isolate timbers.

Description

Batten Support This invention relates to a batten support for use in

flooring systems and in particular for use in flooring systems which provide sound insulation.

Batten supports are used when laying flooring systems to position one batten over another, typically at right angles, or over a joist, or to fix the batten to some other sub-floor.

Known batten supports typically comprise a U-shaped member formed of plastics material which slots over a batten or joist and has upstanding lugs arranged on it, between which the batten to be supported can be positioned. When such supports are used with a sound insulated floor some form of acoustic absorber such as high density foam is provided between the batten support and the surface on which it rests.

Difficulties in use of such systems arise when the supporting joists or battens are not completely level. In older buildings, there can be significant differences in level between different areas of a room.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a stackable batten support.

Preferably the batten support carries a plurality of upstanding lugs between which a batten may be positioned.

Preferably the base of the batten support includes at least one recess to receive upstanding lugs from a further batten support on which it is stacked.

Preferably the batten support is substantially circular with the lugs upstanding from one face of the circle and the recesses being provided in the opposite face of the circle.

Preferably the batten support includes at least one through hole for securing the batten support to a surface on which it is to be positioned.

Preferably the through hole is a central through hole.

Preferably the upstanding lugs are arranged to receive additional spacing members.

Preferably the additional spacing members are stackable additional spacing members of a predetermined height whereby a desired set of levels may be obtained for a batten to be supported.

Preferably the batten support includes a recess on its base to receive an insulating member.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows an upper perspective view of a batten support embodying the invention; Figure 2 shows an upper perspective view of two stacked batten supports embodying the invention; Figure 3 shows a lower perspective view of two stacked batten supports embodying the invention; Figure 4 shows a cross section through two stacked batten supports embodying the invention; and Figure 5 shows a spacer for use in an embodiment of the invention.

The embodiment of figure 1 shows a batten support 2 which comprises a substantially circular base member 4. Carried on the base member 4 are four protruding lugs 6. These protruding have two functions. Each one has an arcuate outer profile at its base. The arcuate profile corresponds to the arc of the circular base on which it stands. This arcuate outer profile terminates at a step 10 above which the protruding lug extends further with a smaller arcuate profile 12 inside the radius of the circular base member 4. The arcuate profiles of these further upstanding portions of the lugs are arranged to each form part of the circumference of a concentric circle of smaller diameter than the circular base member. This diameter is substantially the same as a circular recess in the base of the stackable member into which the lugs may be received.

At the top of each protruding lug is a locating member 14 which in this example is a circular member to be received in a circular recess in the base of a batten support with which it is to be stacked. Thus it can be seen that one purpose of the protruding lugs is to provide a convenient arrangement for stacking the batten supports.

The second purpose of the protruding lugs is to allow a batten to be positioned on the support. Each protruding lug has a pair of substantially flat and substantially perpendicular inner faces 16. The inner faces 16 of each adjacent pair of lugs therefore comprise a pair of substantially parallel opposing faces and a pair of linearly spaced faces which lie in substantially the same plane. In figure 1 for one pair of lugs the opposed faces are shown as faces 16a and the faces on the same plane are shown as faces 16b on two of the four lugs shown.

When a batten is positioned on the batten support, it is received between a pair of opposing faces 16a on each pair of lugs. The faces 16b are at substantially right angles to faces 16a and, in the alternative, receive a batten at right angles to the direction of a batten which would be received between faces 16a. Thus it can be seen that faces 16a and 16b define respective perpendicular slots into which battens may be received.

The first lugs illustrated could be replaced with a pair or lugs defining a single slot to receive a batten.

A substantially central hole 18 is provided in the base member 4. This is used to receive a fixing screw which can be used to secure the batten support to a batten on which it sits or to a sub-floor. Because the fixing hole is central, the batten support can be rotated to any desired alignment for supporting a batten.

Figure 2 shows two of the batten supports of figure 1 stacked together. These comprise an upper batten support 20 and a lower batten support 22. The upper sections of the protruding lugs of the lower batten support 22 have been received into the base of the upper support 20. The manner in which they are received is illustrated in figure 3 which shows a cross section through the two stacked supports.

As can be seen the arcuate sections 12 of smaller diameter than arcuate sections 8 are received within a recess within the base of batten support 20. The recess and the arcuate sections 12 have diameters which are very close so that the fit of batten support 20 on to batten support 22 is reasonably tight.

The circular protrusions 14 on top of the protruding lugs fit within recesses 24 in the base of batten support 20.

These recesses are provided beneath the protruding lugs 6 of batten support 20 so that when two or more batten supports are stacked, the protruding lugs will be substantially vertically aligned, thereby ensuring that the vertical strength of the stacked batten supports is maximized. This can be achieved with only one circular protrusion and one corresponding recess.

Once the desired number of batten supports have been staked in the locations in which they are to be positioned battens may be positioned within them.

Figure 4 shows a perspective base view of the pair of - stacked batten supports. In this it can be seen that the base is substantially hollow and that a grid of supporting ribs 26 is provided to give strength to the base member 4 whilst enabling less material to be used in its manufacture. The material used is preferably a plastics material.

The recess 28 in the base of the batten support may receive a disc of insulating material when the batten support is to be used with a sound insulated flooring system. This is to ensure that the sound insulation properties of the floor are maximized. Preferably this disc is formed from a resilient material such as rubber, the type of which will be - known to those skilled in the art. The grid of supporting ribs in the recess minimises contact with the rubber disc.

The disc of rubber material is preferably arranged to be significantly thicker than the depth of the recess 28 into which it is received, and preferably more than twice this depth. This enables a further batten support to be positioned on its opposite side. When this is done, two opposed batten supports are produced separated by a disc of insulated foam.

One of these may then be placed on a floor joist and a batten positioned on the opposite batten support. This further batten may be parallel to the batten on which the batten support sits but preferably is at some other angle to it.

Such arrangements are sometimes required when constructing flooring systems. The system may also be used in walls and ceilings to isolate timbers.

In some cases, a batten support or a plurality of batten supports when stacked will not provide exactly the height of support required. In such circumstances, one or more spacers may be provided to sit between the protruding lugs on the batten support to raise the height of the support to the desired level. These may be provided with any desired depth.

For example, if lmm increments are required, spacers of lmm depth will be used and the desired number placed upon the batten support. The recesses within the base members of batten supports and the heights of the protruding lugs are arranged so that after a known number of spacers have been - inserted, the next increment is obtained by removing all the spacers and stacking a further batten support on top of the current batten support.

In further embodiments, specially adopted supports may be positioned on top of or beneath a batten support to assist in securing the support to known flooring or sub-floor systems.

Claims

1. A stackable batten support.

2. A stackable batten support according to claim 1 which carries a plurality of upstanding lugs between which a batten may be positioned.

3. A stackable batten support according to claim 2 including at least one recess in its base to receive upstanding lugs from a corresponding batten support when it is stacked.

4. A stackable batten support according to claim 3 including an insulating member positioned within the recess.

5. A stackable batten support according to claim 3 including a locating means carried on at least one lug and a cooperating locating means provided within the recess in the base.

6. A stackable batten support according to claim 5 in which the locating means on the lug and in the recess in the base are arranged such that the lugs of stacked batten supports are substantially vertically aligned.

7. A stackable batten support according to any of claims 2 to 6 in which four upstanding lugs are provided.

8. A stackable batten support according to any to any previous claim in which the batten support is substantially circular.

9. A stackable batten support according to any of claims 2 to 8 in which at least the upper sections of the lugs have a profile to be received within the recess in a corresponding batten support.

10. A stackable batten support according to any of claims 8 and 9 in which at least the upper portions of the lugs have a circular profile of smaller diameter than the diameter of the recess in the batten support.

11. A stackable batten support according to any previous claims comprising a substantially central fixing location about which the batten support may be rotated.

12. A stackable batten support according to any previous claim including a plurality of spacers to increase the height of the support by predetermined increments.

13. A stackable batten support according to claim 12 in which the spacers locate between the lugs carried on the batten support.

14. A stackable batten support substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.