US1029940A - Removable flooring-strip. - Google Patents

Description

WLS. MITCHELL.

. REMOVABLE FLOORING STRIP.

APPLICATION FILED D30. 5, 1910.

' T D STATES FATE had to the pipes to vary the connections or Improvements WALTER S. MIETCHELL, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

5 REMOVABLE FLOORING-STRIP.

To all whom it may concern I 7 Be it known that I, WALTER S. MITCHELL,- citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county 01' San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful in Removable Flooring- Strips, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to flooring and particularly to a floor structure, embodying means in combination with a concrete floor for allowing the ready insertion and removal of electric and other wires, and gas, steam or air pipes.

Building regulations of certain municipalities require that electric wires, such as telephone, telegraph, signal and other electric conductors, be soprotected when erected in a building as to prevent the action of moisture upon the wire. In other words the law requires wires to be so embedded as to be damp proof, and a simple and ready means whereby the wires may be removably erected and easily accessible so as toistring or run them through iron pipes of suitable size is desired.

The object of this invention is to provide means whereby electric conductors may be properly embedded or protectedfrom moisture by running them through suitable pipes or tubes removably laid in concrete floors; and to provide means whereby access may be change their direction or length as 'may be required; and to provide in combination with the concrete floor a suitable flooringor carpet strip adapted to conceal the wirecontaining pipes and at the same time provide means wherebythe floor" covering, as linoleum, carpet, or rug, may be easily secured upon the concrete floor.

The invention consists of the parts and the construction and combination of parts I as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a frag modified form of the metallic sheeting or' liner and the removable retaining strip. Fig. 3 shows another modification of the metallic liner in which one of. its edges is Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 18, 1912, Application filed December 5, 1910. Serial No. 525,581.

project over the contiguous wall floor A, channels or mortises 4 and 5; the

channel 4 extending inwardly beneath the lower edge of the baseboard 2 so as to form a small' pocket or chamber for therecept-ion of a tube or' pipe 6, through which may be threaded electric conductors 7 which may be branched or terminated at any suit able point and brought up from the pipe 6 through the base-board, as shown at 8 in Fig. 1, so that connections may be made to the conductor 7, or through a strip to, be hereinafter described.

The channel or mortise 5 may be made in thecementor concrete floor A at a suitable distance from the channel 4, as the size of the room or other conditions require, and

-may run parallel therewith or at any angle desired, but inFig. 1, I have shown a fragment of flooring adjacent a corner of a room and which clearly shows the channel 5 as being laid parallel to the vertical walls of the room.

One or both of the vertical walls of the channels 5 may be formed with a concavity as 9, of approximately the same contour as the pipe or tube 6, which is to be laid in the channel, so that the vertical walls 9 of the channels 4 and 5 maybe undercut so as to partially cover tube 6.

For the purpose of securely but removably fastening the wire-conducting tubes 6 in their respective pockets against the walls of the channels, I employ suitable strips or fillers 10, of Wood or other material, cut

into convenient lengths or blocks, as blocks 11, having one of their edges concaved as at 12, so as to form a seat against which the tubes 6 may snugly rest and the mean width .of a strip 10 is approximately equal to the distance between the adjacent walls of the concealed tubes'6, and when firmly braced into the channels 4 or 5 the strips 10 form I locking key or bar holding the tubes immovably in position against their respective seats in the channels.

A portion of the strip 10 is'adapted to project beneath the lower edge of the baseboard 2 any desired distance, and the walls of the floor A and the bottom edge of the base-board 2 and the concave edge 12 of the strip 10 form a pocket in which the pipe 6 is entirely concealed.

In order to facilitate a ready removal of the retaining strips or keys 10 from their respective channels, the edge opposite to the concaved edge 12 may be formed for a portion of its depth at substantially. a right angle as 18, Fig. 3', to the upper plane or surface of the strip, or may be slightly concaved so as to embrace approximately a quarter of the tube 6, as shown at 1 1, Fig. 1. In e1ther event the remainder of this edge of the strip 10 is beveled back, as at 15, at a suitable angle and. the strip 10 may then be swung upwardly about the pipe or tube 6 asla plvot, freely swinging out of the channe Manifestly the channels in the concrete fioor A may be formed in any suitable man nor, as during the original castin of the floor, 1n which event suitable mol s would be inserted to form recesses and afterward removed, or, if desired, I may employ in carrying out my invention a suitably shaped metallic trough, one form of which is shown at '16 in Fig. 1, in which the trough has a pair of upturned, curved, concave flanges as 17 whereby the'concaved seats 9 may be formed in the concrete during the construction of the floor, and when this metallic trough is used, it not only facilitates the formation of the channels, but also acts as a lining or reinforcement to the cement or concrete, so that when the retainin key or I strip 10 is forced into position to orce the pipes into their respective seats the adjacent overhanging walls of the channels will be protected.

Manifestly I am varying the form of the metallic lining 16 to conform to various conditions, and as shown in Fig. 4, the trough 16 may be provided at one of its edges with aprojecting, longitudinal rib orflange 18 adapted to be passed into a suitably undercut channel or recess 19, in the floor A, and the pipe-receiving portions 17 of theitrough & 16 may be made substantially rectangular in cross section toreceivethe pipes 6, and

the retaining removable strips 10 press downwardly between the flat portions 20 of the trough to hold the pipes in position.

In Fig. 3 I have added to the trough an outwardly extending flange 21, shown as overlapping the adjacent overhangingwall of the channel 5; in this .way protecting the wall against fracture.

By providing the wooden strips 10 for which the carpet or linoleum may be snugly fastened; the finishing strip 21 forming a neat border around the carpet.

The tendencyof the carpetnailed to the strips is to exerta strong pull on them and thus firmly hold them in place in the channels; the edges of thestrips' are concaved and retained by the pipes and thercby prevented from lifting out of the channels when the strip is under the tension of the stretched carpet. The carpet must be removed from the strip before the latter can be turned or lifted out of the channel.

Having thus describedimy invention, what I claim and desire to secure by. Letters Patent is-- v "1. In a building construction, the combination with a concrete floor having amort-ise, of a flooring strip insertible into the mortise, and means to prevent the lifting of the strip by pressure exerted in an upward direction bya floor covering, said-means includinga conduit lying in the mortise and engaging the edge of said strip.

, 2. In a building"construction, the combination with a concrete floor havingamortise, of a flooring strip insertible intothe mortise, and means toprevent the lifting of the stripby,pressure exerted in an upward,di-

rection by a floor covering, saidmeans including a conduit lying in the mortise, and said strip having a concaved edge to engage the conduit, said strip cooperating withthe walls of the mortise to inclose conduits for electric wires or the like.

3. In a building construction, the combination with a concrete floor having a mor-.,

tise, of means forming chambers to receive conduits between the walls of the mortise,

and a strip with edges conforming to the conduits and serving as a key to prevent the tension of a nailed covering from lifting the conduit from the mortise.

4. In a building construction, thecombination with a floor of concrete having mortises with undercut walls, of flooring strips adapted to be seated in saidmortises and having undercut edges engaging conduits laid against the walls of the mortise.

5. In a building'construction, the combination of a floor of concrete, of flooring strips with grooved edges adapted to be seated in said mortises, said edges engaging the outer surfaces of conduits laid against the Walls of the mortises whereby the strip is locked against accidental removal.

6. In a building construction, the combination of a floor of concrete having a plurality of undercut mortises, of removable conduits resting against the Walls of said mortises, and strips for retaining the beforementioned conduits in their respective positions, said strips having undercut edges and one of the conduits engaging one 'of the edges of the strip to prevent the strip from being lifted by the tension of an attached covering.

7 In combination With a conduit, a flooring strip insertible within a mortise and having a concaved edge adapted to rest upon and partially inclose the outer Wall of the conduit laid in said mortise.

8. A flooring construction including a cement floor provided with a plurality of channels having undercut side Walls, a suitable reinforcing liner substantially covering the surface of the Walls of the channel, and means for retaining conduits laid along the sides of the reinforcing liner, said means including a flooring strip concaved along one of its edges to rest upon the inclosed conduit.

9. A floor construction, comprising a cement floor having mortises; a removable flooring strip having edges fashioned to form in combination With the Walls of the mortises, chambers and conduits laid in the chambers, the outer Walls of the conduits and the fashioned edges of the flooring strip interlocking to hold the st-ri in position, and one edge of the strip bemg beveled to permit said strip to be swung into place in the mortise In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of tWo subscribing witnesses.

IVALTER S. MITCHELL. Witnesses:

CHARLES EDELMAN, D. B. VALENTINE.

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