EP1726738A2

EP1726738A2 - Leveling support for raised flooring

Info

Publication number: EP1726738A2
Application number: EP06010223A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Massimiliano Frascari
Original assignee: Techlever SpA
Current assignee: Techlever SpA
Priority date: 2005-05-23
Filing date: 2006-05-18
Publication date: 2006-11-29
Also published as: EP1726738A3; ITRE20050058A1

Abstract

A leveling support for raised flooring is composed of an open top container (3), which is at least partly filled with sand, in bulk or packed in a non-rigid cartridge (4') or bag (4"), adaptable to the shape of the container. An anchor base (7) is engaged and adjusted to the horizontal position on the bulk sand or non-rigid cartridge or bag in the container (3) in a partly embedded or lying position, for anchorage of a movable member (2) supporting a cap (6), which is designed to support and/or retain the corners (9) and/or the flooring structures (10), such as: slabs, platforms, tiles, boards, planks and the like.

Description

The present invention relates to a leveling support for raised flooring.
Raised flooring is known to require particular laying measures and means to obtain perfectly horizontal and continuous structures; such conditions are preferably achieved, in prior art, by using height-adjustable supports which, in the best prior solutions, have structures similar to mechanical screw jacks.
When these supports have been laid and arranged over the surfaces to be floored, they have to be brought to the same level to provide the requested floor horizontality.
These configurations have certain drawbacks, deriving from their structural complexity and consequent high costs, in terms of both manufacturing and adjustment during installation, which is rather difficult, requires long positioning times and only allows leveling optimization when laying occurs on regular surfaces.
On irregular surfaces, having uneven heights and/or inclined areas, alignment may be rather inaccurate.
This invention is based on the issue of conceiving and providing a support which has such structural and functional features as to obviate the above prior art drawbacks.
This issue is addressed by a leveling support according to the features of claim 1.
Advantageously, the sand or another material having similar characteristics, may be introduced in the container in bulk or packed in a non-rigid cartridge or bag, adaptable to the shape of the container; a base is engaged with the sand, by being partly embedded therein or laid thereon, in a perfectly horizontal position, for anchorage of a movable member supporting a cap, which is designed to support the corners and/or the structures of the raised flooring.
In renovation works, anchor bases for movable members that support top caps by conventional adjustment screws may be used in the upper container several times.
The advantages achieved by the leveling support of this invention essentially consist in that the support structure is very simple, easy to make, and inexpensive, as well as easy and quick to lay, thereby affording shorter operating times and lower costs.
Another advantage consists in that perfect horizontal leveling of the raised flooring is obtained, regardless of the conditions of the underlying surface on which supports are laid; furthermore, the use of sand, or similar material, reduces the vibrations transmitted from the raised flooring to the underlying surface.
The invention will be now described in further detail, with reference to embodiments provided by way of example and without limitation, with the help of the annexed drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partly sectional perspective view of the individual components of an exemplary support of the invention, having an upper container, partly filled with sand or similar material in bulk (or packed in a non-rigid cartridge or bulk, indicated by dashed lines),
Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the same support, ready for being laid on an regular underlying surface and with the upper container partly filled with sand, or similar product, packed in a non-rigid cartridge or bag (indicated by a dark line), adaptable to the shape of the container and to perfect horizontal support of a base for anchorage of a movable top member according to the invention (indicated by a solid line) or to prior art (partial view on the side),
Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the support of the invention, ready for being laid on an inclined and/or irregular underlying surface, with the upper container partly filled with bulk sand, or similar product, and with a base for anchorage of a movable member in perfect horizontal position.
Figs. 4 a-b are partial side and plan views of bases for anchorage of a movable top member of the support of the invention, with or without radial positioning tabs, and
Fig. 5 shows examples of top support caps, and the anchor base of the invention, possibly with means for guiding and retaining the raised flooring structures.

Referring to the above figures, a leveling support of the invention comprises: a preferably tubular container 3, and a movable body 2.
Preferably, but without limitation, the container 3 has a tubular shape and is connected to a base plate 1; it is open at its top and contains, for instance, a given amount of sand 4 or another granular material having similar properties in terms of consistency, load resistance, preservation of its properties with time.
Sand 4 may be introduced in the container 3 in bulk (as shown in figures 1 and 3) or in pre-packed cartridges 4' or bags 4", made of plastic or another non-rigid and strong material (as indicated by dashed lines in figure 2 and by a bold line in Figure 2). In any case, the bulk or packed sand shall be always able to take the form of an adaptable horizontal bearing surface, for supporting the anchor base 7 of said movable member 2.
The movable member 2 is composed of a central stem 5 comprising said anchor base 7, which is attached to its bottom end, and a bearing cap 6, which is attached to its top end; the anchor base 7 may or may not have radial positioning tabs 8, preferably having a partly inclined profile.
The provision of positioning tabs 8 facilitates engagement of the anchor base 7 in a partly embedded or lying and horizontally aligned position, in/on the sand 4 at the desired height and level; such engagement is obtained by a rotational or oscillatory movement adapted to facilitate insertion of the anchor base 7 in the sand.
The central stem 5 may have any proportions whatever, within the limits of the internal proportions of the container 3 and the external proportions of the anchor base 7, provided that such base may be in proper adaptable horizontal support relation on or in the sand 4. However, the proportions of the top cap 6 depend on the type of support required by the flooring components 10.
During the laying process, a plurality of containers 3, with or without base plates 1, are suitably arranged over the surface to be floored 11, so that each container is positioned at the corners 9 or possibly at the central areas of said flooring components 10.
Then, movable members 2 are placed in their respective containers 3 with or without base plates 1.
Such placement may occur:

by laying the anchor bases 7 on the sand 4, or similar material, packed in non-rigid cartridges 4' or bags 4", introduced in and adapted to the internal shape of the containers 3;
by directly laying the anchor bases 7 on a first layer of bulk sand 4, or another similar material, in the partially filled containers 3, and then covering said bases with a second layer of sand, thereby reaching a level that does not exceed the top edge, after placement;
by completely filling the containers 3 with bulk sand 4, or another similar material, to reach a level that does not exceed their top edges after placement, and later downwardly embedding the anchor bases 7 in the mass of bulk sand.

Then, by simply oscillating or oscillating and rotating the movable member 2, the anchor base 7 is oriented in the desired position on the cartridge 4', the bag 4" or the bulk sand 4, or similar material, depending on the horizontal position of the top support cap 6.
For easier and quicker placement on and/or in the sand, or similar material, the anchor bases 7 may have radial positioning tabs 8, acting as screw threads when screwed into the bulk sand or similar material.
All the above steps may be easily and quickly carried out by hand.
By using the above procedure, the top support caps 6 of all supports may be arranged in mutually horizontal positions, thereby forming points of an imaginary plane, for supporting the corners 9 and/or other portions of the flooring structures 10, such as: slabs, platforms, tiles, boards, planks and the like.
It will be further appreciated that, due to the presence of the sand or other material having corresponding characteristics, and to the easy and quick positioning and orientation of the anchor bases 7 thereon and/or therein, alignment at all top support caps 6 is ensured even when the underlying surface 11 on which the base plates 1 are placed, is uneven, deformed, having undulations and/or differences in height.
The proportions of the top support caps 6 depend on the type of support required by the flooring components 10.
The surface area of the anchor bases 7 and the adaptability of the corresponding area of sand, in bulk 4 or packed in cartridges 4' or bags 4", as delimited by the size of the container 3, assure support, aligned positioning and specific pressure, in a constant, uniform and permanently non deformable manner.
Depending on applications, the top support caps 6 may be smooth, may have projecting keys 12 for locking in position the flooring structures, which suitably have blind receptacles 12' on the underside, or may include spacers, e.g. cross-shaped or the like 13, for rigid engagement of the corners of such structures, with joints being formed therebetween.
The circular shapes of the figures are only provided by way of example, due to their being the easiest, more functional and inexpensive to form; this does not exclude other possible shapes, e.g. quadrangular and/or different shapes, for ordinary and/or particular applications. Similarly, the radial positioning tabs 8 that are shown in the figures may be one, two or more in number, depending on their size. Otherwise, such tabs may not be provided.
Finally, when possible, if the invention is used for renovation of raised floors, to reduce the costs of the works, and with the purpose and within the scope of the same perfect horizontal leveling regardless of the condition of the underlying base for the supports, conventional anchor bases for movable members that support top caps using adjustment screws 5' (indicated by dashed lines in Figure 2) may be also used or reused in the same upper container 3.
It shall be noted that the sand or other similar material in the container advantageously damps vibrations.
Those skilled in the art will obviously appreciate that a number of changes and variants may be made to the leveling support as described hereinbefore, without departure from the scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.

Claims

A leveling support for raised flooring characterized in that it comprises: an open top container (3), which is at least partly filled with sand (4, 4', 4") or other material having similar characteristics, and a movable member (2) comprising a top cap (6) and a bottom anchor base (7), which are connected together through an intermediate stem (5); said anchor base (7) being engaged in a partly embedded or lying position, such as to be disposed horizontally in said sand (4, 4', 4'') in the container (3), and said top cap (6) being adapted to form a base for support and/or retention of the corners (9) of the leveling and raised flooring structures (10), such as: slabs, platforms, tiles, boards, planks and the like.
A leveling support for raised flooring according to claim 1, characterized in that said sand (4) or other material having similar characteristics is packed in non-rigid cartridges (4") adaptable to the internal shape of said container (3).
A leveling support for raised flooring according to claim 1, characterized in that said sand (4) or other material having similar characteristics is packed in non-rigid bags (4") adaptable to the internal shape of said container (3).
A leveling support for raised flooring according to claim 1, characterized in that said sand (4) or other material having similar characteristics is introduced in said container (3) in bulk.
A leveling support for raised flooring according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said movable member (2) supports a cap (6) at its top and an anchor base (7) at its bottom, through an intermediate stem (5); said stem (5) having any proportion whatever, within the limits of the internal proportions of said container (3) and the external proportions of said anchor base (7), depending on the requested adaptable horizontal support relation on or in the sand (4).
A leveling support for raised flooring according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said anchor base (7) of said movable member (2) has radial positioning tabs (8), having a partly inclined screw-like profile.
A leveling support for raised flooring according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the surface area of said anchor base (7), of said movable member (2) is adaptable in terms of support, orientation and as a function of a desired specific pressure, to the corresponding area of the sand, or other material having similar characteristics (4, 4', 4"), within the size limits of said container (3) and regardless of whether the underlying surface (11) is straight, uneven, deformed, or has undulations or differences in height.
A leveling support for raised flooring according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said top support caps (6) of said movable member (2) has a smooth top surface.
A leveling support for raised flooring according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said top support caps (6), of said movable member (2) have a top surface with projecting keys (12) providing a form fit with corresponding blind receptacles (12') on the underside of the flooring structures (10).
A leveling support for raised flooring according to claims 1 to 9, characterized in that said top support caps (6) of said movable member (2) include cross-shaped spacers or the like (13).
A leveling support for raised flooring according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shapes of all or some of its components are circular, quadrangular and/or else.
A leveling support for raised flooring according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said container (3) is connected to a base plate (1).
A leveling support for raised flooring according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said movable member (2) supports the top cap (6) through an intermediate stem whose length is adjustable by means of an adjustment screw (5').