This application is related to and claims the benefit of Italian Patent Application No. 102018000005016, filed on May 3, 2018, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a spacer for laying tiles, bricks and the like with the interposition of gaps.
In the laying of floor surfaces and coverings composed of tiles, bricks or slabs, a difficulty is typically encountered in spacing such elements apart equidistantly in order to create the gaps.
Nowadays leveling spacers are known for laying tiles, bricks and the like, which comprise:
The knob is provided with a plate-like part which is designed to be pressed during clamping against the tiles in a first step of laying the tiles in order to immobilize the edges and corners of multiple tiles arranged on the base.
Once the fixing of the tiles to the underlying surface is completed, the stem is removed by way of further rotation by screwing the knob on the threaded stem. In fact, this further rotation of the knob in the same direction of screwing causes the traction in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement of the tiles of the threaded stem, until the breakage of the breaking points, with consequent removal of the stem and of its tabs from the base.
The base is embedded and hidden by the material with which the gaps between the tiles are made.
This and similar conventional spacers have a considerable drawback in that when laying the base, they remain, unrecoverable, inside the gaps, thus constituting a weak point for the correct adhesion of the adhesive and of the putty between the tiles, marble and/or any other material.
For the same reason, conventional spacers have a cost that influences the overall costs of laying tiles and the like.
The aim of the present disclosure is to provide a spacer that is capable of improving the known art in one or more of the above mentioned aspects.
Within this aim, the disclosure provides a spacer that is capable of ensuring the correct laying of tiles, bricks or the like, without parts that remain unrecovered inside the gaps.
The disclosure also provides a spacer that makes it possible to lay the tiles according to the correct leveling.
The disclosure further provides a spacer that, if necessary, can be integrated with conventional spacers in order to reduce their drawbacks and in order to obtain better leveling results.
The disclosure provides a spacer that makes it possible to reduce the costs of material in the laying of tiles.
The present disclosure further overcomes the drawbacks of conventional spacers in an alternative manner to any existing solutions.
The disclosure provides a spacer that is highly reliable, easy to implement, and at low cost.
This aim and these and other advantages which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by providing a spacer for laying tiles, bricks and the like with the interposition of gaps, wherein the spacer comprises a plate-like body which is open internally with at least one spacing protrusion that protrudes outward from said body and defines the width of a respective gap.
Further characteristics and advantages of the disclosure will become better apparent from the detailed description that follows of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the spacer according to the disclosure, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein:
With reference to (
The body 11 shown in the example is substantially teardrop-shaped or P-shaped, but it can also have different shapes, for example; round, square, lozenge, pentagonal, hexagonal, heptagonal, octagonal etc. as long as it has a central opening.
At least one such first spacing protrusion, designated with 13, protrudes outward and from at least one of two opposite faces of the body 11 along an arrangement that is perpendicular to the arrangement of that body 11.
In particular, the body 11 comprises three first spacing protrusions 13 which protrude from both of the opposite faces of the body 11, of which two protrude in a diametrically opposite position and one protrudes in a direction that is perpendicular to the preceding protrusions. These are also designated with 13a in
Substantially such three protrusions just described are configured as partitions, of the same thickness, which pass through the body 11 from one face to the opposite face.
As can be seen in
In this first case, the upper face of the spacer 10 is the one on which only three of the first protrusions 13 are visible, although four protrusions are used, i.e. the three protrusions 13a plus the protrusion 13b which protrude from the lower face.
In this second case, the spacer 10 has been rotated 180° and the upper face of the spacer 10 is the one on which four first protrusions 13 can be seen, while the three protrusions 13a that protrude from both of the faces are used.
In both cases, the central opening of the body 11 makes the tiles 14 visible to the operator during the application of the spacer 10.
The thicknesses that define the width of the gaps are defined at the design stage and are all identical for the four elements. They can preferably be 1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm and 5 mm, or of other dimensions as a function of the requirements.
Therefore alternative spacers exist, with which the operator can be provided for the laying of the floor covering.
The protrusions 13 protrude preferably 5 mm from the body 11. Alternatively they can protrude up to 50 mm.
The spacer 10 has at least one second spacing protrusion 15 which is substantially constituted by a tooth that protrudes radially in a cantilever fashion from the external perimeter of the body 11, along the same arrangement as that body.
There are four second spacing protrusions 15, positioned in pairs in diametrically opposing directions and in pairs at right angles.
The four second protrusions 15 have different thicknesses, preferably 1 mm, 2 mm, 3 mm and 5 mm. The thickness can also be different from the preceding values indicated, and the number of these second protrusions can be different.
The function of such second spacing protrusions 15 is to create the gap space between two tiles in linear laying.
The body 11 has a flat portion 16 for placing on the tiles 14 which protrudes on its opposite faces. Such flat portion 16 is perimetric.
Such flat portion 16 enables the spacer 10 to be placed evenly on the tiles and therefore it enables a correct leveling.
The spacer 10 is interposed between the upper surface of the tiles 14 and the knob 19, in order to improve the leveling.
The base 17 is substantially linear, spacing protrusions not being required in order to define the cross-shaped or T-shaped gaps, for which the protrusions 13 of the spacer 10 are used.
The leveling is achieved by screwing the knob 19 on the stem 18. At the end of the leveling, the knob 19 is removed, ripping the stem 18 from the base 17, and the spacer 10 is also removed.
Underneath the tiles 14 all that remains is the base 17, and no component remains in the gaps.
Use of the spacer, according to the disclosure, is evident from the foregoing description and explanation and, in particular, it is clear the ease with which it can be used, and the fact that no part of it remains inside the gaps, creating a vulnerable weak point for the correct adhesion of the laying materials.
In fact, the spacer makes it possible to correctly space apart the floor covering of tiles or bricks or the like, according to the desired gap thickness and, prior to filling, when the adhesive or other adapted material has taken hold, it can be removed.
Furthermore, the use combined with a leveling spacer in the form of a knob, like the one described, makes it possible to obtain a correct distance between the tiles and also a correct leveling.
Furthermore, the interposition of the spacer according to the disclosure between the tiles and the knob makes it possible to screw the knob onto the spacer and not directly onto the flooring surface, thus preventing dust or grains of sand from scratching the surface of the tiles.
In practice it has been found that the disclosure fully achieves the intended aim and objects by providing a spacer that is capable of ensuring the correct laying of tiles, bricks or the like, without parts that remain unrecovered inside the gaps and according to the correct leveling.
The disclosure, thus conceived, is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, all the details may be substituted by other, technically equivalent elements.
In practice the materials employed, provided they are compatible with the specific use, and the contingent dimensions and shapes, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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102018000005016 | May 2018 | IT | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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4953341 | Joos | Sep 1990 | A |
4955142 | Rieck | Sep 1990 | A |
5288534 | Tavshanjian | Feb 1994 | A |
D492210 | Shilo | Jun 2004 | S |
7257926 | Kirby | Aug 2007 | B1 |
8607468 | Hillebrandt | Dec 2013 | B2 |
9121187 | Bunch | Sep 2015 | B1 |
D848820 | Dahill | May 2019 | S |
D857482 | Li | Aug 2019 | S |
20040060184 | Shilo | Apr 2004 | A1 |
20090126213 | Tavy | May 2009 | A1 |
20150233129 | Gamisans Berenguer | Aug 2015 | A1 |
20160186449 | Lee | Jun 2016 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
2002332961 | Mar 2007 | AU |
2312958 | Dec 2007 | RU |
149447 | Jan 2015 | RU |
Entry |
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IT Search Report dated Dec. 14, 2018 re: Application No. IT 2018000005016, pp. 1-8. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20190338536 A1 | Nov 2019 | US |