Patent Grant
11384545
Priority is claimed of and to German Patent Application Serial No. DE 20 2020 100 337.2, filed Jan. 23, 2020, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a profile system for use in intersecting joints where two or more planes of veneer material meet.
In accordance with one aspect of the technology, a profile system is provided including elongate profiles for terminating installed tiles with a uniform, substantially L-shaped cross-section including a fastening leg for fastening to a substrate and forming a bearing surface provided with through openings. An adjoining, substantially perpendicular, boundary leg is included, wherein the outer longitudinal side of the boundary leg faces away from the fastening leg and the top side of the boundary leg forms visible surfaces. The inner longitudinal side of the boundary leg faces towards the fastening leg and forms a contact surface for the tiles. Each of the front ends of the boundary leg forms a contact surface provided with a receiving opening for receiving a connecting element. At least one corner connecting piece is configured to visually connect the front ends of the boundary legs of three profiles arranged perpendicular to each other for terminating installed tiles. The fastening legs comprise an outer main side of the corner connecting piece, which forms a visible surface, an inner main side of the corner connecting piece opposite thereto, which forms a contact surface for the tiles, two adjacently arranged front ends of the corner connecting piece, each of which forms a contact surface provided with a receiving recess for receiving a connecting element, and two further front ends of the corner connecting piece which form visible edges. The contours of the outer main side of the corner connecting piece, that of the front ends of the corner piece forming the visible surfaces and that of the corner area connecting these front ends of the corner piece and the main side of the corner connecting piece to each other are adapted to the respective contours of the outer longitudinal sides of the boundary leg and the top sides of the boundary legs of the three profiles for terminating installed tiles connected to each other via a corner connecting piece such that the profiles are mutually aligned in a flush manner when installed. At least two connecting elements are configured so that one exposed end is inserted into the receiving opening of a profile for terminating installed tiles and an other exposed end is inserted into the receiving recess of a corner connecting piece.
In accordance with another aspect of the technology, a profile system is provided that includes elongate profiles for terminating installed tiles with a uniform, substantially L-shaped cross-section including a fastening leg for fastening to a substrate and forming a bearing surface provided with through openings, and including an adjoining, substantially perpendicular, boundary leg. An outer longitudinal side of the boundary leg faces away from the fastening leg, and a top side of the boundary leg forms visible surfaces. The boundary leg is provided with a receiving opening for receiving a connecting element. At least one corner connecting piece is configured to visually connect the front ends of the boundary legs of three profiles arranged perpendicular to each other for terminating installed tiles. The corner connecting piece can be provided with a receiving recess for receiving a connecting element. At least two connecting elements can be configured so that one exposed end is inserted into the receiving opening of a profile for terminating installed tiles and an other exposed end is inserted into the receiving recess of a corner connecting piece.
The same reference numbers relate hereafter to identical or similar components or component ranges.
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. Alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and additional applications of the principles of the inventions as illustrated herein, which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention.
As used herein, the singular forms “a” and “the” can include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a profile” can include one or more of such pieces, if the context dictates.
As used herein, the term “substantially” refers to the complete or nearly complete extent or degree of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. As an arbitrary example, an object that is “substantially” enclosed is an article that is either completely enclosed or nearly completely enclosed. The exact allowable degree of deviation from absolute completeness may in some cases depend upon the specific context. However, generally speaking the nearness of completion will be so as to have the same overall result as if absolute and total completion were obtained. The use of “substantially” is equally applicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the complete or near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. As another arbitrary example, a composition that is “substantially free of” an ingredient or element may still actually contain such item so long as there is no measurable effect as a result thereof.
As used herein, the term “about” is used to provide flexibility to a numerical range endpoint by providing that a given value may be “a little above” or “a little below” the endpoint.
Relative directional terms can sometimes be used herein to describe and claim various components of the present invention. Such terms include, without limitation, “upward,” “downward,” “horizontal,” “vertical,” etc. These terms are generally not intended to be limiting, but are used to most clearly describe and claim the various features of the invention. Where such terms must carry some limitation, they are intended to be limited to usage commonly known and understood by those of ordinary skill in the art in the context of this disclosure. Generally, directional terms used in this application, such as “top” or “bottom” refer to the installed state. The formulations “substantially vertical” and “substantially horizontal” are to be construed such that the main extension direction is vertical and horizontal, respectively.
As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary.
Numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. As an illustration, a numerical range of “about 1 to about 5” should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but also include individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2, 3, and 4 and sub-ranges such as from 1-3, from 2-4, and from 3-5, etc., as well as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, individually.
This same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value as a minimum or a maximum. Furthermore, such an interpretation should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics being described.
Invention
The present technology relates generally to a profile system comprising elongate, identically configured profiles for terminating installed tiles with a uniform, substantially L-shaped cross-section comprising a fastening leg for fastening to a substrate and forming a bearing surface provided with through openings, and comprising an adjoining, substantially perpendicular, boundary leg, wherein the outer longitudinal side of the boundary leg facing away from the fastening leg and the top side of the boundary leg form visible surfaces, the inner longitudinal side of the boundary leg facing towards the fastening leg forms a contact surface for the tiles and each of the front ends of the boundary legs forms a contact surface provided with an opening for receiving a connecting element.
Profiles of the type mentioned in the introduction for terminating installed tiles are used to terminate tile coverings laid in thin-bed mortar at the end of the covering or to terminate tile coverings in the area where they meet, thus forming a visual termination of the tile coverings. In addition, they protect the front ends of the tiles against damage. S used herein, the term “tiles” is understood in the context of the present application as a generic term for plate-shaped covering materials made from ceramic, natural stone or artificial stone. The term “thin-bed mortar” defines any type of adhesive and/or tile adhesive which can be used to lay tiles using what is known as the thin-bed method.
When laying a profile for terminating installed tiles, the fastening leg is embedded between a tile and the substrate in a thin-bed mortar which is used to fix the tile in place, wherein the thin-bed mortar penetrates the through openings of the fastening leg. In this way, the profile for terminating installed tiles is held securely in place on the substrate once the thin-bed mortar has cured. The boundary leg, the width of which is adapted to the thickness of the tiles, delimits and covers the front ends of the adjoining tiles. It is positioned such that a joint of a desired width which can subsequently be filled with jointing mortar remains between the boundary leg and the front ends of the adjoining tiles.
Profiles for terminating installed tiles, produced as extruded profiles, of the type mentioned in the introduction consisting of a fastening leg and a boundary leg with different material thicknesses are sold by Schlüter-Systems KG, for example, under the product designations “Schlüter-SCHIENE” or “Schlüter-Jolly”.
Profiles for terminating installed tiles are generally easy to process. However, problems arise when laying profiles for terminating installed tiles in the area of external angles where three room surfaces meet. In this case, three profiles for terminating installed tiles must be mitred and then laid so that they abut each other, which in most cases produces a visually unconvincing result, even with good workmanship.
Based on this prior art, the aim of the present invention is to create an alternative profile system of the type mentioned in the introduction.
To achieve this aim, the present invention provides a profile system comprising elongate, identically configured profiles for terminating installed tiles with a uniform, substantially L-shaped cross-section comprising a fastening leg for fastening to a substrate and forming a bearing surface provided with through openings, and comprising an adjoining, substantially perpendicular, boundary leg, wherein the outer longitudinal side of the boundary leg facing away from the fastening leg and the top side of the boundary leg form visible surfaces, the inner longitudinal side of the boundary leg facing towards the fastening leg forms a contact surface for the tiles and each of the front ends of the boundary legs forms a contact surface provided with an opening for receiving a connecting element; at least one corner connecting piece which is configured to visually connect the front ends of the boundary legs of three profiles arranged perpendicular to each other for terminating installed tiles, the fastening legs of which profiles are mitred, comprising an outer main side of the corner connecting piece, which forms a visible surface, an inner main side of the corner connecting piece opposite thereto, which preferably forms a contact surface for the tiles, two adjacently arranged front ends of the corner connecting piece, each of which forms a contact surface provided with a receiving recess for receiving a connecting element, and two further front ends of the corner connecting piece which form visible edges, wherein the contours of the outer main side of the corner connecting piece, that of the front ends of the corner connecting piece forming the visible surfaces and of the corner area connecting these front ends of the corner connecting piece and the main side of the corner connecting piece to each other are adapted to the respective contours of the outer longitudinal sides of the boundary legs and the top sides of the boundary legs of the three profiles for terminating installed tiles connected to each other via a corner connecting piece such that they are mutually aligned in a flush manner when installed; and at least two connecting elements designed in the form of a pin, which are configured such that one exposed end is inserted into the receiving opening of a profile for terminating installed tiles and the other exposed end is inserted into the receiving recess of a corner connecting piece.
When installing three profiles for terminating installed tiles in a corner of a room projecting outwards which is formed by three room surfaces each extending perpendicular relative to each other, the fastening legs of the profiles for terminating installed tiles are mitred at the joint end as a first step. In a second step, two of the three profiles for terminating installed tiles are then connected to each other via the corner connecting piece using the two connecting elements such that the corresponding front ends of the boundary legs lie flush against the front ends of the corner connecting piece forming the contact surfaces, and are fixed in place using a thin-bed mortar along the edges of the corresponding room surfaces. Each connecting element is arranged such that it is received both in a receiving opening of a profile for terminating installed tiles and in one of the two receiving recesses of the corner connecting piece. The interim result attained on completion of the second step are two profiles for terminating installed tiles connected to each other via the corner connecting piece and fastened to the corresponding room surfaces, the outer longitudinal sides of the boundary legs of which are each positioned flush relative to the outer main surface of the corner connecting piece and the top sides of the boundary legs of which are each positioned flush relative to the corresponding front end of the corner connecting piece. In a subsequent third step, the third profile for terminating installed tiles is positioned such that it lies against the inner main side of the corner connecting piece and the outer longitudinal side of its boundary leg forms a flush termination with the adjoining front end of the corner connecting piece, whereupon the second profile for terminating installed tiles is also fixed in place using thin-bed mortar along the edge of the corresponding room surface.
A material advantage of the profile system according to the invention consists in the fact that visually very attractive joint areas of three profiles for terminating installed tiles in any given case can be produced quickly, easily and affordably.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present embodiment, the profiles for terminating tiles are configured integrally and in particular are made from metal, for example aluminium or stainless steel, or from plastic.
The profiles for terminating tiles are advantageously configured either as extruded profiles or as bending profiles.
The receiving openings are preferably substantially round in shape, and in particular are shaped in the form of an arc open on one side or at least partially configured in the shape of a curve or arc, resulting in a simple structure of the boundary leg.
The bottom side of the fastening leg advantageously protrudes downwards relative to a lower edge of the outer longitudinal side of the boundary leg, thus producing a lower jointing mortar receiving area for creating a joint with a predetermined visible width in the lower area of the boundary leg, wherein the jointing mortar receiving area can be provided with at least one undercut. Thanks to such a joint, a visually very attractive appearance is achieved. The jointing mortar can grip to an undercut. In the event that the profile for terminating installed tiles is produced as a bending profile, the fastening leg and boundary leg can be connected to each other via a transition leg such that the bottom side of the fastening leg protrudes downwards relative to a lower edge of the outer longitudinal side of the boundary leg. Undercuts can then be created in the form of slits or through openings extending through the transition leg.
Alternatively or additionally, the contact surface formed by the inner longitudinal side of the boundary leg advantageously protrudes inwards relative to an inward-facing edge of the upper side of the boundary leg, thus producing an upper jointing mortar receiving area for forming a joint with a predetermined visible width in the upper area of the boundary leg, wherein the jointing mortar area is provided with an undercut.
The visible joint widths are preferably matched to each other, thus creating an extremely uniform appearance.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, each corner connecting piece is configured such that, when two profiles for terminating installed tiles are installed, the visible joints defined by the boundary legs of these profiles are mutually aligned without interruption by the corner connecting piece, in particular with a constant joint width, thereby also contributing to a visually extremely attractive appearance. To allow for an alignment of the bottom visible joint, a recess can be created in, for example, the corner area of the outer main surface of the corner connecting piece between the two front ends of the corner connecting piece forming contact surfaces, the edge of which recess sits flush against the respective lower edge of the outer longitudinal sides of the boundary leg. To allow for the alignment of the upper visible joint, the inner main surface of the corner connecting piece can be created in the form of a substantially cuboid projection in the corner area between the two front ends of the corner connecting piece forming contact surfaces, which preferably forms a flush termination with the base of the upper jointing mortar receiving area.
The corner connecting pieces are preferably made from the same material as the profiles for terminating installed tiles, thus achieving a uniform appearance.
The connecting elements are advantageously configured as female pins with a slit, thereby achieving a firm hold as soon as they are inserted in the corresponding receiving openings and receiving recesses.
The connecting elements can preferably be made from spring steel.
Turning to the figures, the main components of the profile system 1 shown in
The profiles 2 for terminating installed tiles are used to terminate tile coverings laid in thin-bed mortar at the end of the covering or to terminate tile coverings in the area where the coverings meet. They thus form a visual termination of the tile coverings. In addition, they protect the front ends of the tiles against damage. In the case at hand, the profiles 2 for terminating installed tiles are each configured integrally as extruded profiles, for example as extruded profiles each two or three metres in length, and can be shortened to the desired length. The profiles 2 for terminating installed tiles are made from metal, for example from aluminium or stainless steel. Alternatively, they can also be made from plastic. As evident from
The corner connecting piece 3 shown on an enlarged scale in
The connecting elements 4 are preferably configured as female pins with a slit made from spring steel. The external diameter of the female pins is chosen such that the female pins can be inserted into both the receiving openings 13 and the receiving recesses 24 and can be held in place there detachably with prestress.
It is of course also possible to connect two further profiles 2 for terminating installed tiles to a profile 2 for terminating installed tiles using two corner connecting pieces 3 and four connecting elements 4, as indicated in
It will be recognized that embodiments of profile systems in accordance with the invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications may be possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202020100337.2 | Jan 2020 | DE | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6591575 | Benedettini | Jul 2003 | B2 |
| 9482010 | Kartler | Nov 2016 | B2 |
| 20080083179 | Riggs | Apr 2008 | A1 |
| 20100218444 | Wambaugh | Sep 2010 | A1 |
| 20170071415 | Rosko | Mar 2017 | A1 |
| 20180334813 | Schluter | Nov 2018 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210230887 A1 | Jul 2021 | US |
