Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~62836
A SURFACE COVERING TILE
Background of the Invention
The present invention relates to surface covering tiles having
integral connecting elements. The tiles are particularly useful to construct
portable floor or ground coverings.
Persons who must support themselves on the ground, whether for
rest or work, often wish to have a clean, dry, personal surface on which to do
so. Further those who must stand for long periods of time on hard surfaces
such as concrete flooring, whether interior or exterior, desire a relatively more
resilient surface on which to support themselves to lessen the strain. Still
further, campers often wish to provide a ground cover adjacent the doors of
R V's or trailers or as a floor of a gazebo.
Previous surface covering tiles have allowed only limited portability
as they are either too bulky or require too much effort to assemble and
disassemble.
By way of example of prior art devices is Canadian patent
No.1,067,738 granted December ll, 1979 to SOLAND relating to a ground
covering of interconnections adjacently disposed plates. The plates are
tensioned by cables and spaced apart by spacers of a specific construction to
help lock adjacent plates from relative movement.
Canadian patent No. 1,145,784 granted May 3,1983 to
BERGQVIST relates to a surface covering and provides a surface covering for
game courts and the like comprising a number of mutually detachable joined
plates of a moldable resilient plastic. The plates are joined by telescoping pegelements.
Canadian patent No. 2,035,976 granted March 22,1994 to GEISEN
ET AL relates to plates of plastic material for covering terraces and provides atenon and groove - dovetail top - of connection between adjacent plates.
Canadian laid open application No. 2,077,335 of MacLEOD laid
open on September 3, l991 relates to a cover for an area of ground for a stadiumor the like having a plurality of units with vertical orientated male/female
connectors and with spikes to support the unit above a grass surface aperture
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and the construction of the spikes permit for air circulation under the surface of
the plates or units. The spikes provide a dangerous aspect to the handling of
these units without skilled personnel.
The present invention seeks to provide a surface covering tiles
which are easily connected, as portable, resilient and durable and which are
easily stored without sharp spikes or the like which could cause injury in
handling .
S~".,.,.ary of the Invention
The foregoing aspects are achieved by a surface covering tile
having a first and second surface in spaced relation with edges about its
periphery. The edges have integral connecting elements which hingedly
connect to adjacent surface covering tiles. The surface covering tile may be
adapted to support a finishing surface.
The invention in one aspect provides a molded plastic tile having
means for detachable securement to a like adjacent tile for covering a selected
surface area. The tile comprises a top surface, an undersurface and a plurality
of sides, at least one of the sides of the tile having at least one longitudinally
bar-like bead adjacent a bottom edge thereof with the bead extending outwardly
of the one side. At least another side of the tile has a plurality of recess means
spaced longitudinally along a bottom edge thereof, the recess means extending
outwardly and upwardly and adapted to receive a bar-like bead of another like
confronting tile. The another side includes tongue means interspersed with the
recess means and cooperating with the bar-like bead and recess means for
detachably locking a bar-like bead of an adjacent tile in the recess means of the
tile.
More particularly there is provided a molded plastic tile adapted to
be detachably secured to other like plastic tiles to cover a selected surface area,
the tile comprising a plate portion having an upper surface, an underside and
peripheral sides extending downwardly generally perpendicular to the upper
surface. At least one side of the tile has at least one longitudinal extending
locking bead adjacent a bottom edge thereof. At least one second side of the
tile has at least one female locking means, the female locking means including a
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longitudinally extending curved recess portion adjacent a bottom edge of the
second side and at least one flexile locking tongue whereby two like tiles may
be detachably secured together by the male bead of one tile being received in
the female recess of the other tile, with the flexible tongue cooperating with the
bead to detachably maintain the tiles in an interlocked position.
The upper surface of the tile may be defined by a peripheral rim
and further includes a finishing surface element such as an air permeable carpetsecured to the upper surface and within the rim.
Preferably there are two longitudinally spaced cylindrical locking
beads adjacent the bottom edge of the one side and there are two sets of
longitudinally spaced female locking means, spaced such that each locking bead
is associated with a set of female locking means.
Each set of female locking means preferably includes a plurality of
spaced female locking elements, each female locking element comprising a J-
shaped element with an inner curvature compatible with the curvature of the
bead. A flexible locking tongue is interspersed with adjacent lock elements.
The underside of the plate portion of the tile has an array of
diagonally oriented walls defining substantially square triangular sections
adjacent the sides of the tile and substantially rectangular portions inwardly
thereof .
At least some of the bottom edges of the walls have upwardly
directed recesses spaced from the adjacent posts whereby circulation of air is
permitted between sections.
Preferably the plate portion has an array of small through apertures
therein within at least some of the sections to permit air to circulate from above
the tile to the underside.
The arrays of apertures preferably comprise a plurality of rows of
apertures, adjacent apertures within a row being interspersed by a portion of the
underside of reduced thickness.
Other features and aspects of the invention will become apparent
from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention to
follow.
21628~6
Brief Description of the Drawings
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tile, ~with covering), from one
corner showing male and female connectors and showing like tiles in phantom
lines.
Figure 2 is a top plan view of a tile without a cover.
Figure 3 is a front (side) view of the tile shown in Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a sectional view along line 4 - 4 of Figure 3 of a bead
(male) member of the interconnecting elements.
Figure 5 is a sectional view along lines 5 - 5 on Figure 3 of a
recess (female) member of the interconnection elements.
Figure 6 is a sectional view along line 6 - 6 of Figure 3 showing a
tongue member of the intermediate elements.
Figure 7 is a perspective view of portions of the connecting means
of connected tiles, the tile with the male bead being shown partly in phantom.
Figure 8 is a sectional view along lines 9 - 9 of Figure 7.
Figure 9 is a sectional view along the lines of Figure 8 showing the
connection of adjacent tiles.
Figure 10 is a sectional view showing one method of separating
adjacent tiles.
Figure 11 is a sectional view showing another method of
separating adjacent tiles.
Figure 12 is a bottom plan view of a part of the tiles showing a
section defined by interior support walls.
Figure 13 is a sectional view along lines 13 - 13 of Figure 12.
Figure 14 is a sectional view along lines 14 - 14 of Figure 2
showing a post and molding indentation.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment
Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3, there is shown a single tile lO in
perspective view with an air permeable covering 12 such as outdoor carpeting
on the top or upper surface, which covering is of the indoor-outdoor carpet
type. Adjacent tiles of the same construction are shown in phantom lines in
order to make a platform of selected size. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate tile lO in top
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view and side view without covering 12.
Tile 10 has an upper peripheral lip 14 to contain air permeable
covering 12 and the height of the lip is comparable to the height of the covering.
Under covering 12, tile 10 has upper surface 16.
Sides 20, 22 are mirror images of each other and sides 24, 26 are
mirror images of each other so that only sides 20 and 24 will be further
detailed .
Tile side 20, (as well as side 22), has a lower edge 30 with two
longitudinal portions 32, 34 of the lower edge having a cylindrical, bar-like bead
or male member 36 as more fully shown in section in Figure 4. Bead 36 has a
bottom 38 spaced a predetermined distance from lower edge 30.
Although two portions 32, 34 are shown, a variation of the
invention would have a single longitudinal bar as shown in Figure 2 with dotted
line 40.
Tile side 24, (as well as side 26), has a lower edge 50, which is
coplanar with lower edge 30 of side 20 and has two sections 52, 54 each with
a plurality, (four are shown), of like outwardly, upwardly curving recesses
defined by female elements 56. Elements 56 are flexible and are longitudinally
spaced along side 24.
Intermediate the J-shaped elements 56, as shown in Figure 3 and
Figures 5 - 11, are flexible tongues 60 defined by slots 62 on either side thereof
extending downwardly from an upper portion 64 of side 24, which construction
permits tongues 60 to flex inwardly and outwardly slightly and return to a
normal position, as shown in sectional views in Figures 5 and 6. Upper portion
64 is effectively a flexible hinge for tongue 60.
The lower front surface 66 of tongue 60 has a radius of curvature
compatible with that of J-shaped elements 56 and bead 36.
Figures 7 and 8 illustrate in perspective and sectional views
respectively how two like tiles lOa and lOb are connected, both of the tiles being
shown in Figure 7, only in part and one, 10b, in phantom lines. In connecting
adjacent tiles, the tiles are moved relative to each other in a push/pull manner.
Figure 9 illustrates the connection between two adjacent tiles in
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cross-section similar to Figure 8. Tile 1 Oa and tile 10b are moved relative to
each other whereby bead 36 is pushed downwardly to flex tongue 60 inwardly,
(as shown in dotted lines). Once bead 36 is within J-shaped element 56,
tongue 60 flexes back to its natural or normal position as shown in Figure 8. Itwill be apparent that to assemble two adjacent tiles, one tile 10a may be
manually tilted slightly so that one end of bead 36 is forced into engagement
with an adjacent J-shaped element 56 and this is repeated progressively along
the length of the side of tile 106. The assembly or connection can also be
achieved by placing tiles 10a and 10b on the ground, for example and aligning
bead 36 above J-elements 56 and then standing on tile 10a to snap the beads
30 into the adjacent J-elements 56.
In separating the tiles, Figures 10 and 11 illustrate two methods,
both simply being the angling of tiles 1 Oa and 1 Ob relative to each other. As
shown in Figure 10, tile 10a and 1 Ob are twisted so that initially tongue 60
engages side 20 of tile 10a at 68 and then the peripheral rim 14 of both tiles
touch at 70, (shown in dotted lines), whereupon further relative pivotal
movement causes the two connectors to pivot relative to each other about pivot
70, bead 30 slipping out of the connector formed by tongue 60 and J-element
56 due to the flexibility of these elements. Figure 11 illustrates twisting the
two tiles 1 Oa and 1 Ob such that the end 74 of J-element 56 contacts the inner
surface of side 20 at 76, again defining a pivot point about which further
twisting or pivoting causes separation of bead 36 from the connector defined by
tongue 60 and J-element 56.
Figures 12 and 14 illustrate in further detail, the molded
construction of tile lO to provide a lightweight, yet sturdy, tile which may be
integrally molded without difficulty.
As previously noted, tile lO has a peripheral lip 14 of a height to
accommodate carpet-like material 12. The underside of tile lO has a plurality ofintersecting diagonal walls 80, 82, the juncture of which include cylindrical post
elements 86. The bottom 88 of posts 86 are coplanar with the bottom edges
30 of side walls 20, 22, 24 and 26. Walls 80, 82 define an array of triangular
border sections 90 with square interior sections 92, (Figure 2). Within each
2162836
section 90, 92, as seen in Figure 3, is an array of square apertures 94 further
shown in an enlarged view of a section 90 in Figure 12 and in sectional view in
Figure 13. Also shown in Figures 12 and 13, (but not shown in Figure 2), are
reduced thickness portions 96 extending between adjacent apertures 94 in a
selected longitudinal direction or row. Further, it will be noted that walls 80, as
do walls 82, have a recess 98 therein formed by wail portions 100, 102, 104.
The apertures 94, reduced thickness portions 96 and recesses 98 reduce
material requirements but do not significantly affect the strength of tile 10.
Moreover, the recesses 98 cause less "footprint markings" to be left on the
surface on which the tile is used (such as grass). Further still, recesses 98 and
apertures 94 permit the flow of air and moisture between sections and with that
of the environment above the tile with an air permeable surface cover 12.
Figure 14 illustrates post 86 with a slight depression 110 in the
upper surface 16 (and attendant raised portion 1 12 on the underside) which are
for reasons to facilitate molding the tile with reduced flashing, as is well known
in the art.
With the type of connection provided by applicant's device, limited
pivotal movement of the tiles relative to each other is provided and therefore the
tiles will follow the contour of the underlying ground more effectively. As seenin Figures 10 and 11, two adjacent tiles will pivot upwardly about 25~, (Figure
10) and downwardly about 40~, (Figure 1 1).
In a prototype, applicant's square tiles lO are about 19-3/16" square,
with side edges 20, 22 about 5/8" in height. The female receiving elements 56
are about 3/4" wide with the locking tongues 60 about 3/8" wide. The beads
32 are about 4-5/8" long. The center to center distance between posts 86 is
about 2-9/64" and apertures 94 are about 7/32" square.
Accordingly I have provided an easily molded tile for selective
interconnection with like adjacent tiles to form a platform or the like which can
be used outside an RV for deck chairs or the like, or adjacent dock areas
levelled ground.
