WO2008040039A1

WO2008040039A1 - Plate for laying on floors, walls, ceilings, façades or the like

Info

Publication number: WO2008040039A1
Application number: PCT/AT2007/000460
Authority: WO
Inventors: Franz SÜMECZ; Gerhard Steiner
Original assignee: Poschacher Natursteinwerke Gmbh & Co Kg
Priority date: 2006-10-03
Filing date: 2007-10-01
Publication date: 2008-04-10
Also published as: CN101523001A; EP2115239A1; CN101523001B

Abstract

The invention relates to plates (1) for laying on floors, walls, ceilings, façades or the like, inside and outside, comprising locking elements (5, 6) for producing a snap connection between the plates (1). A first locking element (5) comprises at least one projection (8) on an arm (7) which can be elastically deflected in the plane of the plate (1) and is inclined towards the edge of the plate, and a second locking element (6) comprises at least one recess (9) and a guiding surface (10) or edge leading towards the recess (9), such that the snap connection can be created by deflecting the arm (7) when the projection is introduced into the recess (9), along the guiding surface (10), and then locked into said recess. According to the invention, the angle of inclination (ß) of the guiding surface (10) or edge is larger than the angle of inclination (α) of the deflectable arm (7).

Description

Panels for laying on floors, walls, ceilings, facades or the like.

The invention relates to panels for installation on floors, walls, ceilings, facades or the like. Inside and outside, with locking members for producing a snap connection between the plates, wherein a first locking member at least one projection on an elastically deflectable in the plane of the plate and to the plate edge inclined arranged arm and a second locking member has at least one recess and a recess leading to the guide surface or edge, so that the snap connection can be produced by deflecting the arm during insertion along the guide surface and subsequent engagement of the projection in the recess. The invention further relates to a snap connection for such plates.

On floors, walls, ceilings, facades and the like. Laying panels, such as flagstones, ceramic tiles, wood panels, parquet, laminate, decorative panels, carpet tiles and glass tiles are attached in a conventional manner, for example by means of an adhesive to the respective substrate and possibly the Joints filled with a grout. However, this type of installation has some disadvantages. For the installation of the panels sound craftsmanship skills are required, with small errors in the course of laying the panels, such as irregular distances, uneven application of the adhesive, etc., have a strong disruptive effect. Small unevenness of the substrate and especially uneven application of the adhesive and the resulting cavities below the plate can lead to breakage of the plates under load. Furthermore, it is not possible to disassemble already laid plates non-destructive. Just as little is it possible to exchange individual plates with little effort. For this reason, laying systems have already become known for plates in which locking members are connected to the plates, with the aid of which snap connections can be made to adjacent plates, wherein the locking members comprise at least one projection or a recess, which for connecting the plates to each other in engagement to be brought. Thus, for example, from FR 2 826 392 Al a plate has become known at the edge of a snap element is arranged, which can engage in a corresponding receiving cross-section at the edge of an adjacent plate. Similar snap mechanisms have become known from US Pat. No. 6,446,413 Bl, DE 101 58 215 A1 and WO 03/040491 A1. All these laying systems, however, have in common that the plates to be laid can be stuck together only in compliance with a predetermined jointing direction, which brings a limited flexibility in the laying work with it. In particular, problems may occur when the directly adjacent to a wall end row of a floor covering must be laid, since limited space conditions are taken into account.

An improved snap connection between plates has become known from WO 2005/003574 A1. According to this literature, in the case of plates of the type mentioned in the introduction, the projection or the recess of the locking member is formed on at least one arm which is elastically deflectable in the plane of the plate, whereby the deflection of the elastically deflectable arm enabling the snap connection takes place during assembly of the plates in the plane the plate takes place. As a result, the snap connection can absorb greater locking forces and it is ensured a more stable composite of the plates. Also with regard to the joining direction results in the become known from WO 2005/003574 Al plates greater flexibility. Experiments have shown, however, that in special laying situations, joining the plates known from WO 2005/003574 A1 is not always possible without problems. In particular, in situations where the plate to be attached is to be laid in a corner consisting of already laid panels, it must be ensured that the plate to be joined is connected to both the corner forming, already laid panels by means of a snap connection in order to achieve a stable plate assembly , The plate to be relocated must therefore be connected at two adjacent plate edges at the same time with already laid plates, for which purpose the greatest possible flexibility of the snap connection elements must be ensured with respect to the permissible joining direction.

The present invention therefore aims to provide plates of the type mentioned above or snap connections for such plates, in which there is the greatest possible flexibility with regard to the permissible joining direction, so that plates can easily be used on two adjacent plate edges even in corner constellations the previously laid panels can be locked.

To achieve this object, the invention consists in plates of the type mentioned, in which the snap connection can be produced by deflecting an arm provided with a projection during insertion along a guide surface and subsequent engagement of the projection in a recess of an adjacent plate in that the inclination angle the guide surface or edge is greater than the inclination angle of the deflectable arm. Characterized in that the inclination angle of the guide surface or edge is greater than the inclination angle of the deflectable arm, an assembly of two plates is also possible at a shallower angle relative to the plate edge, but the holding force of the snap connection is not reduced in any way. With appropriate inclination the elastically deflectable arm and the corresponding guide surface is a joining of plates at an angle of 45 ° or more relative to the plate edge possible. In a symmetrical configuration of paired locking members in this case the joining direction of, for example - 45 ° to + 45 ° can be chosen freely. Deviating from known embodiments, the joining of plates is thus also possible in a direction deviating from the symmetry axis of the locking members. Characterized in that the inclination angle of the guide surface or edge is greater than the inclination angle of the deflectable arm, the simultaneous insertion of locking members on two adjacent plate edges in the corresponding recesses of two corner-forming, already laid panels is made possible without causing a collision of Locking members comes with plate edges of adjacent plates.

Preferably, the design is such that the angle of inclination of the guide surface or edge by at least 5 °, preferably at least 10 °, greater than the inclination angle of the deflectable arm. The deflectable arm may in this case preferably enclose an angle of 35 ° to 55 °, preferably 45 °, with one side edge of the plate so that two plates can be joined together in a direction of, for example, 45 ° relative to the edge of the plate.

For easier connection of the plates, the elastically deflectable arm is preferably formed protruding over the edge of the plate. In order to achieve a higher stability, preferably at least two elastically deflectable arms can be provided, each with a projection, wherein the arms are arranged in pairs with projections directed in opposite directions. The paired arms may in this case preferably be arranged inclined relative to the plate edge in opposite directions, so that each results in a symmetrical arrangement and the holding forces act in opposite directions. The hand- It is much easier to join plates when joining together.

According to a preferred embodiment of the plates according to the invention, the locking members are attached to the underside of the plate or connected to a mounted on the underside of the plate plate-shaped carrier or molded thereto. In this embodiment, a plate-shaped carrier can thus be provided, on which the plate to be laid can be glued so that complex processing of the plate itself can be omitted. The plate-shaped support and the associated therewith or molded thereto locking members, and in particular the elastically deflectable arms can therefore be made of a suitable material, regardless of the nature of the material and the shape of the plate, which sufficient elasticity of the locking members and at the same time ensures sufficient stability of the snap connection to be achieved.

The elastic carrier or the locking members can be produced in a separate production step and glued, for example, with the underside of the plate. Preferably, the invention provides that the carrier or the locking members are integrally formed, foamed or molded on the underside of the plate. As a result, a particularly simple and cost-saving production is made possible, whereby only care must be taken that the elastically deflectable areas are not connected to the plate so that a relative movement is prevented.

In order to provide a universal laying system in which each plate can be placed anywhere within the panel grid, the design is preferably such that resilient deflectable arms are projectingly projected from only two adjacent edges of the panel. So here are two sides of a square plate provided with male locking members and the other two sides of the plate with female locking members. In this embodiment, the orientation of a plate is predetermined relative to the adjacent plates, since in each case a male must be connected to a female locking member. In the case of plates which have a structure or a pattern, however, it is desirable to arrange a quadrangular plate also rotated by 90 °, 180 ° or 370 °. For this purpose, the invention is advantageously developed such that the plate has alternately male and female locking members at its periphery. Each edge is provided with at least one male and at least one female locking member, so that the highest possible flexibility is guaranteed.

As already mentioned, the primary joining direction of the plates according to the invention runs parallel to the plate plane. After laying a first series of panels, after the beginning of the second row, each additional panel to be laid must be laid in the panel plane, observing a jointing direction of 45 ° to the edges of the adjacent panels. To facilitate this, the training is advantageously made such that the elastically deflectable arms with an edge of the plate at an angle of 35 ° to 55 °, preferably 45 °, include.

To provide a joint seal in a simple manner is advantageously connected to at least two adjacent edges of the plate and / or with a projecting over at least two adjacent edges of the plate portion of the plate-shaped support a joint seal, in particular molded or foamed. The joint seal can in this case be slightly compressed by joining the plates by the locking forces, so that a complete seal succeeds. The joint seal can in this case directly to an over the edge of the plate projecting portion of the plate-like support by injection molding be attached so that no separate webs, edge profiles or the like. Needed, in which sealing lips must be inserted.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment schematically illustrated in the drawing. 2 shows an enlarged view of the locking members, FIG. 3 shows an illustration of the different joining directions, FIG. 4 shows a plurality of interconnected ones 5 shows a detail view of the area A of FIG.

FIG. 1 shows a plate 1, for example a stone plate, on the underside of which locking elements carrying plastic parts 2 and 3 are fixed. The determination can be made here, for example, with the help of a cast or on the plastic parts 2 and 3, adhesive material. Furthermore, an adjacent plate 4 is partially shown, with which the plate 1 can be connected. For this purpose, first locking members 5 and second locking members 6 are provided, which may also be referred to as male and female locking members. Both the first locking members 5 and the second locking members 6 are arranged in pairs. As can be seen in particular in the enlarged view in Fig. 2, in which the sake of clarity, only the outline of the plate is shown together with locking members, there is a first locking member 5 of an elastically deflectable in the plane of the plate arm 7, at its end carries a projection 8. Two pairs of arms 7 are in this case inclined to each other and have pointing in opposite directions projections 8. The projections 8 can be brought into corresponding recesses 9 of the second locking members 6 in engagement, wherein a latching takes place in that during insertion of the first locking members 5 along the guide surface or edge 10, the elastic deflectable arms 7 are deflected in the plane of the plate until they can engage in the respective recesses 9. The inclination of the arms 7 is characterized by the angle α, the inclination of the guide surface or edge by the angle ß, wherein it can be seen that according to the invention the inclination angle ß is greater than the inclination angle α. This design facilitates the joining of two plates in different joining directions, as illustrated in FIG. 3 by way of example with reference to three examples. Three possible joining directions are shown here by the arrows 11, 12 and 13.

In Figure 4, three plates 14, 15 and 16 are now shown, which are already connected to each other. The plate 17 is now to be added to such a corner constellation, wherein all, the two plates 14 and 16 facing locking members of the plate 17 must be brought simultaneously with the corresponding counterparts in connection. For this purpose, the plate 17 according to the arrow 18, ie approximately in a direction of 45 ° relative to the plate edges, to the already laid plates 14 and 16 are added, with the risk that protruding locking members 5 with the plate edges of the adjacent Plates 14 and 16 collide. As can be seen in the detail illustration according to FIG. 5, however, such a collision is ruled out by the design according to the invention of the guide surfaces 10, which are arranged more inclined than the arms 7. In Figure 5 it can be seen that the elastically deflectable arms 7 are inclined at an angle of α relative to the plate edge and that the guide surface or edge 10 is inclined at an angle ß, which angle ß is greater than the angle α. Due to the flatter design of the guide surface or edge 10 a greater flexibility in terms of joining direction is made possible and it is a simultaneous locking of the locking members on the adjacent plate edges 19 and 20 in the corresponding counter-elements of the plates 14 and 16 allows.

Claims

Claims:

1. panels for installation on floors, walls, ceilings, facades or the like. Inside and outside, with locking members for producing a snap connection between the plates, wherein a first locking member at least one projection on a in the plane of the plate elastically deflectable and Plate edge inclined arranged arm and a second locking member has at least one recess and a recess leading to the guide surface or edge, so that the snap connection can be produced by deflecting the arm during insertion along the guide surface and subsequent engagement of the projection in the recess, characterized the angle of inclination (β) of the guide surface (10) or edge is greater than the angle of inclination (α) of the deflectable arm (7).

2. Plates according to claim 1, characterized in that the inclination angle (ß) of the guide surface (10) or edge by at least 5 °, preferably 10 °, greater than the inclination angle (α) of the deflectable arm (7).

3. Plates according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the deflectable arm (7) with a side edge of the plate

(1) includes an angle of 35 ° to 55 °, preferably 45 °.

4. plates according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the elastically deflectable arms (7) over the edge of the plate (1) are formed projecting.

5. Plates according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at least two elastically deflectable arms (7) are each provided with a projection (8), wherein the arms (7) in pairs with projections directed in opposite directions (8) are arranged.

6. Plates according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the paired arms (7) are arranged inclined relative to the plate edge in opposite directions.

7. Plates according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the locking members (5, 6) attached to the underside of the plate (1) or with a on the underside of the plate (1) mounted plate-shaped carrier (2, 3) connected or molded on this.

8. Plates according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the locking members (5, 6) on the underside of the plates (1) are integrally formed, foamed or molded.

9. Plates according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that elastically deflectable arms (7) of only two adjacent edges of the plate (1) are arranged projecting.

10. Plates according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that on the periphery of a plate (1) alternately first and second locking members (5, 6) are arranged.

11. Plates according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that with at least two adjacent edges of the plate (1) and / or with a at least two adjacent edges of the plate (1) projecting portion of the plate-shaped support (2, 3) connected to a joint seal, in particular molded or foamed, is.

12. Plates according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the locking members (5, 6) are formed such that at two adjacent plate edges (19, 20) of a plate (17) arranged locking members (5, 6) simultaneously with corresponding locking members (5, 6) can be locked on two corner-forming plates (14, 16) by sliding the plate (17) in a direction (18) in the plane of the plate into the corner formed by the two plates (14, 16) ,

13. snap connection for plates, such as floor, wall, ceiling or facade panels, with at least two mutually cooperating locking members, wherein a first locking member at least one projection on an elastically deflectable in the plane of the plate and the plate edge inclined arm and a second locking member has at least one recess and a recess leading to the guide surface or edge, so that the snap connection can be produced by deflecting the arm during insertion along the guide surface and subsequent engagement of the projection in the recess, characterized in that the inclination angle (ß) of the guide surface (10) or edge is greater than the inclination angle (α) of the deflectable arm

(V).

14. snap connection according to claim 13, characterized in that the inclination angle (ß) of the guide surface (10) or edge by at least 5 ° greater than the inclination angle (α) of the deflectable arm (7).

15. snap connection according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the deflectable arm (7) with a side edge of the plate (1) forms an angle of 35 ° to 55 °, preferably 45 °.

16. snap connection according to claim 13, 14 or 15, characterized in that the elastically deflectable arms (7) over the edge of the plate (1) are formed projecting.

17. snap connection according to one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that at least two elastically deflectable arms (7) each provided with a projection (8) are, wherein the arms (7) are arranged in pairs with mutually opposite directions directed projections (8).

18. snap connection according to one of claims 13 to 17, characterized in that the paired arms (7) are arranged inclined relative to the plate edge in opposite directions.

19. snap connection according to one of claims 13 to 18, characterized in that the elastically deflectable arm (7) attached to the underside of the plate (1) or with a on the underside of the plate (1) mounted plate-shaped carrier (2, 3) connected or molded on this.

20. snap-fit connection according to one of claims 13 to 19, characterized in that the locking members (5, 6) are formed such that at two adjacent plate edges (19, 20) of a plate (17) arranged locking members (5, 6 ) simultaneously with corresponding locking members (5, 6) on two corner forming plates (14, 16) can be locked by the plate (17) in a direction (18) in the plane of the plate in the of the two plates (14, 16 ) trained corner is pushed.