JP4659735B2 - Floating floor assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

An elevated floor assembly comprising floor panels (10) having an upper surface (14), an opposite lower surface (16) and side faces (18, 18'), two adjoining side faces (18, 18') meeting in corner portions (20) of the floor panel (10). The elevated floor assembly further comprises pedestals (12) for supporting the floor panels (10) at their corner portions (20) above abasefloor, wherein the pedestals (12) comprise a shaft (22) having a lower end (26) being connected to a base plate (28) for resting on the base floor and an upper end (24) being connected to a supporting column (30) for supporting the corner portions (20) of the floor panels (10). According to an important aspect of the invention, the floor panels (10) comprise lugs (36) on the lower surface (16) in the region of the corner portions (20), the lugs (36) extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the lower surface (16) and away from the floor panel (10); and the supporting column (30) comprises a receiving end (34) for receiving the lugs (36) therein.

Description

  The present invention relates to a floating floor assembly.

Floating floor assemblies are typically used in commercial applications and office buildings. These locations require a significant number of cables, pipes and ducts, and it is desirable to maintain accessibility to the latter for ease of installation, modification or removal. The floating floor assembly basically consists of a floor panel supported by supporting legs above the base floor. The support legs are configured to support the panel corner portion. In this way, cables, pipes and air conditioning services are also installed in a chamber formed between the base floor and the floating floor, and can be easily accessed by simply removing the required floor panels. .
The support leg is generally composed of a cylinder having a lower end and an upper end, the lower end is connected to a base plate for mounting on the base floor, and the upper end is connected to a support plate for accommodating the floor panel on the top. ing.

 The shape of this support plate is often very complex, especially when stringer members commonly used to reinforce floating floor assemblies are adapted to be coupled to the support plate. Such a support plate is shown, for example, in GB22226060, which has radial tabs that connect corresponding ends of the stringer member. The support legs are often designed so that the height of the floating floor relative to the base floor can be adjusted. Such adjustment is often necessary due to irregularities in the surface of the base floor. In many cases, the support leg is composed of two members connected together via a screw connection. One member is rotated with respect to the other member to finely adjust the height of the support leg. However, this design generally does not allow for more practical height adjustment.

 On the other hand, it will be appreciated that the production of support legs with complex support plates is more costly. Furthermore, the larger the size of the support plate, the more the load distribution moves to the outer part of the support leg, so that the load is moved further off its axis and the load due to the support leg itself Bring.

 Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a floating floor assembly which does not have the above-mentioned problems.

This problem is solved by the floating floor assembly claimed in claim 1.
The present invention provides a floating floor assembly comprising a floor panel having an upper surface, an opposite lower surface, and two adjacent side surfaces adjacent to each other at the corner of the floor panel. The floating floor assembly further includes support legs for supporting the floor panel at a corner portion above the base floor, the lower end being connected to a base plate for mounting on the base floor, and the corner of the floor panel. The support leg which consists of the upper end connected with the support pillar for supporting a part is provided. According to an important aspect of the present invention, the floor panel includes a lug attached to the lower surface of the corner portion region, the lug extending substantially in a direction perpendicular to the lower surface and away from the floor panel. The support column has a receiving end for receiving the lug therein.

 Unlike prior art assemblies, the support legs used in the present floating floor assembly are easy to manufacture. There is no need to provide a complex support plate as in prior art assemblies, thus significantly reducing manufacturing costs. All that is required is that the lug is received in the receiving end of the support column. Installation of the floating floor assembly is also simplified. That is, a plurality of floor panels are simply arranged at their corners above the panels, so that the lugs engage the receiving ends of the support posts. This simplifies and speeds up the installation of the floating floor assembly, thus reducing operating costs. Furthermore, the height of the support leg can be easily reduced on site by cutting the receiving end into a predetermined size. Moreover, since there is no support plate, the biased load applied to the support leg is reduced.

The lug includes a first lug portion and a second lug portion adjacent to the first lug portion, the first lug portion is in a plane substantially parallel to the first side surface of the floor panel, and the second lug portion is the floor panel. Preferably, the second side surface is adjacent to the first side surface. Thus, the first and second lug portions are arranged at an angle to each other, thereby reinforcing the lug structure. It is preferable that the first and second lug portions are arranged on the same plane as the first and second side surfaces of the floor panel. Therefore, the lug is arranged at the edge of the corner portion of the floor panel. However, it is not excluded to place the lug a little from the edge of the corner.
The lug may have a taper in a direction away from the floor panel. The taper guides the lug to the receiving end of the support column, so that the floor panel can be easily attached.

Advantageously, the receiving end is generally a cylindrical hollow member. The cross-section of the cylindrical hollow member can be circular, square, hexagonal or any other convenient shape. Such a cylindrical hollow member provides another important advantage of the present invention. If the height of the support leg needs to be lowered, this can be achieved by cutting the tip of the receiving end. The obtained accommodation end is a cylindrical hollow member that can accommodate the lug of the floor panel therein. Therefore, the height of the support legs can be reduced very easily on site during installation. There is no need to prepare support legs of various heights for mounting the floating floor assembly. A high-precision survey of the installation site is no longer necessary and can save transportation, handling and storage costs.
The receiving end is preferably dimensioned to receive the lugs of the entire corners adjacent on one support leg.

Preferably, the shaft has a thread and a nut with a corresponding internal thread, and the support column is designed to fit into the shaft and rest on the nut. If it is necessary to adjust the height of the support legs, the nut can be turned around the shaft, thereby moving the nut up and down the shaft. Since the support column is designed to rest on the nut, its position is also changed, thereby adjusting the height of the support leg. The height adjustment by the nut is preferably used to finely adjust the height, for example, to compensate for small irregularities in the base floor. The lower end of the support post can be tapered to engage the shaft. Also, for the same purpose, a plastic or metal buckle form can be fixed inside the lower end of the support column.
To reinforce the floor panel. The floor panel may comprise a metal plate on the lower surface.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the floor panel comprises a stiffener element, the stiffener element being disposed on the bottom surface of the floor panel along the side surface and in a generally vertical direction away from the floor panel. It extends to. Such a reinforcement element becomes a structural reinforcement along the side of the floor panel. This structural reinforcement provides additional rigidity to the floor panel and greater stability to the floor assembly. In prior art assemblies, stringer members (crossbeams) are coupled to the support legs prior to floor panel attachment to provide structural reinforcement. Installation of such a stringer member takes time. The need for such a stringer member is eliminated by the reinforcement element. In the present assembly, the stiffener elements are connected to the floor panel, thereby providing structural reinforcement by attachment of the floor panel. It will be appreciated that installation time and floating floor assembly costs are significantly reduced and reduced over prior art assemblies.

The stiffener element may have a generally rectangular or triangular cross section.
The stiffener element can be placed at the edge of the floor panel or slightly beyond the edge of the floor panel. By placing the stiffener element slightly away from the edge of the floor panel, the stiffener element can prevent the lug from interfering with the receiving end of the support column of the support leg. .
Preferably, the reinforcement element and / or the lug are suitably formed integrally with the metal support. The stiffener element and / or lug can also be welded to a metal support. By connecting the stiffener element and / or the lug to a metal support, a reinforcing structure can be achieved.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the metal support is provided with at least one pressing tab and receives the edge of the reinforcement element in engagement between it and the metal plate. Yes. Preferably, at least one holding tab is formed integrally with the metal plate. Advantageously, the edge of the stiffener element is engaged with a plurality of holding tabs.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

 A floor panel and support legs of a floating floor assembly according to the present invention are shown in FIG. Only one such floating floor assembly has a base floor 10 illustrated in FIG. 1, which forms a chamber with the floating floor so that cables, pipes or air conditioning services can be attached. ing. The floor panel 10 is generally square or rectangular, and has an upper surface 14, an opposite lower surface 16, and side surfaces 18, 18 ′. The side surfaces 18, 18 ′ are adjacent to each other at the corner of the floor panel 10. It has become. The support leg 12 is designed to support the floor panel 10 at its corner portion 20. Four corners of four separate floor panels 10 are adjacent on one support leg.

The support leg 12 includes a shaft 22 having an upper end 24 and a lower end 26. The lower end 26 of the shaft 22 is firmly connected to a base plate 28 for mounting on the base floor. The upper end 24 of the shaft 22 is designed to receive a support post 30 thereon to support the corner portion 30 of the floor panel 10. The lower end 32 of the support column 30 engages with the upper end of the shaft 22. The accommodation end portion 34 of the support column 30 supports the corner portion 20 of the floor panel 10.
The floor panel 10 includes a lug 36 on the lower surface 16 of the corner 20 that is designed to engage the receiving end 34 of the support column 30. The housing end 34 is suitably designed as a hollow cylinder that houses the lug 36 therein. It will be appreciated that the cross-section of this cylindrical receiving end can be circular, square, hexagonal or any other convenient shape.

 The lug 36 is more clearly shown in FIG. 2, which is an enlarged view of the corner portion 20 of the floor panel 10 of FIG. The lug 36 includes, for example, a first lug portion 38 that is substantially flush with the side surface 18 and a second lug portion 38 'that is substantially flush with the side surface 18'. In the case of a square or rectangular floor panel 10, the two lug portions 38, 38 'are perpendicular to each other. In order to facilitate the engagement of the lug 36 at the receiving end 34 of the support column 30, the lug portions 38 and 38 ′ are tapered in a direction away from the lower surface 16 of the floor panel 10. Also, the lug 36 can be variously shaped to provide engagement of the lug 36 at the receiving end 34.

In FIG. 3, the lug 36 is shown engaged with the cylindrical accommodation end 34 of the support column 30. The accommodation end 34 is designed to accommodate the lug of the entire corner portion adjacent to the entire surface of one support leg. In FIG. 4, for example, the corners of the floor panel 10, 10 ′, 10 ″ are shown with their lugs 36, 36 ′, 36 ″ engaged with the receiving end 34 of the support column 30. Yes.
With reference to FIG. 3 above, attachment of the support column 30 to the shaft 22 can be described. The shaft 22 includes a nut 40 having an internal thread corresponding to the thread. The lower end 32 of the support post 30 is designed to engage the upper end 24 of the shaft 22. The lower end 32 may comprise an internal thread corresponding to the thread of the shaft 22, for example. When in the engaged state, the lower surface 42 of the lower end 32 of the support column 30 rests on the upper surface 44 of the nut 40. By turning the nut 40, that is, by adjusting the position of the nut 40 on the shaft 22, the height of the support leg 12 can be adjusted. The height adjustment by the nut 40 is possible especially for fine adjustment. If it is necessary to make it considerably low, for example, when the support leg is placed on a raised portion of the base floor, the receiving end 34 of the support column 30 can be shortened. The upper part of the receiving end 34 can be easily cut off along a cutting line 45 as shown in FIG. This can be easily done in the field, which simplifies the installation of the floating floor assembly as there is no need to install different sized support legs.

 Where other supports for the floor panel 10 are required, such supports are conventionally provided with stringer members connected between adjacent support legs, but the stiffener elements 46, 46 'are The floor panel 10 is structurally reinforced by extending along the side surfaces 18, 18 ′ of the floor panel 10.

 As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the reinforcement elements 46, 46 ′ can be connected to a metal plate 48 attached to the lower surface 16 of the floor panel 10. The stiffener element 46 is preferably formed integrally with the metal plate 48. The end region 50 of the metal plate 48 can be folded to form the reinforcement element 46. The edge 52 of the end region 50 can be welded to the lower surface 54 of the metal plate 48 on the lower surface side of the floor panel 10. The reinforcement element 46 can be arranged at the edge of the floor panel 10 as shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 8, or at a slightly inserted position as shown in FIG. The stiffener elements 46, 46 ′ can also be separate elements welded to the metal plate 48.

The stiffener element 46 can be formed to have a generally triangular cross-section as shown in FIGS. 5, 6 or 8, or a generally rectangular cross-section as shown in FIG. It will be appreciated that many other shapes are possible.
It will also be appreciated that the lug 36 is preferably integrally formed or welded and is preferably coupled to the metal plate 48. This increases the strength of the assembly.

The metal plate 48 can have one or more holding tabs 56 to receive the edges 52 of the reinforcement 46 in engagement between the holding tabs 56 and the metal plate 48. Such a closure tab 56 is shown in FIGS. The pressing tab 56 is preferably formed integrally with the metal plate 48.
In addition, as shown in the figure, the floor panel of the floating floor assembly is usually square. However, it does not exclude the design of floating floor assemblies with any other polygonal floor panel.

It is a perspective view of the floor panel and support leg of the floating floor assembly which concerns on this invention. It is an enlarged view of the corner part of the floor panel of FIG. It is a perspective view of the floor panel received on a support leg support pillar. It is a perspective view of three floor panels received on a support leg support column. It is sectional drawing of the edge part of the floor panel which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the edge part of the floor panel which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the edge part of the floor panel which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the edge part of the floor panel which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is a bottom view of the edge part of the floor panel of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10, 10 ', 10 "... floor panel 12 ... support leg 14 ... floor panel upper surface 16 ... floor panel lower surface 18, 18' ... floor panel side surface 20 ... floor Panel corner 22 ... shaft 24 ... upper end 26 of shaft ... lower end 28 of shaft ... base plate 30 ... support column 32 ... lower end 34 of support column ... accommodation of support column End 36, 36 ', 36 "... Lug 38, 38' ... Lug part 40 ... Nut 42 ... Lower surface 44 of the lower end of a support pillar ... Upper surface 45 of nut ... Cutting line 46 , 46 '... Reinforcement element 48 ... Metal plate 50 ... End region 52 of the metal plate ... Edge 54 of the end region ... Bottom surface 56 of the metal plate ... Holding tab

Claims (13)

A floor panel having an upper surface, an opposite lower surface, and two adjacent side surfaces adjacent to each other at a corner of the floor panel;
A support leg for supporting the floor panel on the base floor at the corner portion, for supporting the corner portion of the floor panel, and a lower end connected to a base plate for mounting on the base floor The floor panel is a lug attached to the lower surface of the corner region, and is substantially perpendicular to the lower surface and away from the floor panel. A floating floor assembly having a receiving end for receiving the lug therein, the floor panel further comprising a metal plate on a lower surface thereof; It is integrated with this metal plate,
The receiving end of the support column is a substantially cylindrical hollow member, and in order to reduce the height of the receiving end, the length of the receiving end is shortened by cutting off the upper portion of the receiving end. A floating floor assembly characterized by being able to.  The floating floor assembly according to claim 1, wherein the lug is formed by bending a corner portion of the metal plate.  The lug includes a first lug portion and a second lug portion adjacent to the first lug portion, the first lug portion is in a plane substantially parallel to the first side surface of the floor panel, and the second lug portion is the floor panel. The floating floor assembly of claim 2, wherein the floating side assembly is in a plane substantially parallel to the second side surface of the first side surface and the second side surface is adjacent to the first side surface.   The floating floor assembly according to claim 3, wherein the first and second lug portions are disposed on the same plane as the first and second side surfaces of the floor panel.   The floating floor assembly according to claim 1, wherein the lug has a taper in a direction away from the floor panel. The floating floor assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the receiving end is dimensioned to receive lugs of the entire corners adjacent to each other on one support leg. The shaft according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the shaft has a thread and a nut with a corresponding internal thread, and the support column is designed to fit into the shaft and rest on the nut. A floating floor assembly according to claim 1. The said floor panel is provided with a reinforcement element, The said reinforcement element is arrange | positioned in the said lower surface of the said floor panel along the said side surface, and extends in a substantially perpendicular direction so that it may distance from the said floor panel. The floating floor assembly according to any one of 7 . 9. A floating floor assembly according to claim 8 , wherein the reinforcement element has a generally rectangular or triangular cross section. The floating floor assembly according to claim 8 or 9 , wherein the reinforcing element is disposed at a part of the floor panel or a little from the edge of the floor panel. The floating floor assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 10 , wherein the reinforcing element is formed integrally with the metal plate. The floating floor assembly according to claim 11, wherein the reinforcing element is formed by bending of an edge region of the metal plate. 13. The metal plate according to any one of claims 1 to 12 , wherein the metal plate comprises at least one holding tab and receives an edge of the stiffener element such that it is in engagement between the metal plate and the metal plate. Floating floor assembly.

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