Patent Application
20110016809
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of support pedestals for supporting an elevated surface above a fixed surface, such as for elevated floors, decks and walkways.
2. Description of Related Art
Elevated building surfaces such as elevated floors, decks, terraces and walkways are desirable in many environments. One common system for creating such surfaces includes a plurality of surface tiles, such as concrete tiles (pavers), stone tiles or wood tiles, and a plurality of spaced-apart support pedestals upon which the tiles are placed to be supported above a fixed surface. For example, in outdoor applications, the surface tiles may be elevated above a fixed surface by the support pedestals to promote drainage, to provide a level structural surface for walking, and/or to prevent deterioration of or damage to the surface tiles forming the building surface. The support pedestals can have a fixed height, or can have an adjustable height such as to accommodate variations in the contour of the fixed surface upon which the support pedestals are placed, or to create desirable architectural features.
In many applications the surface tiles are rectangular in shape, having four corners. Each of the spaced-apart support pedestals can therefore support the corners of four adjacent surface tiles at the tile corners. Stated another way, each surface tile can be supported by four support pedestals that are disposed under each of the four corners of the tile.
One example of a support pedestal is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,264 by Buzon, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The support pedestal disclosed by Buzon can be used in outdoor or indoor environments and is capable of supporting heavy loads applied by many types of building surfaces. The pedestal includes a threaded base member and a threaded support member that is rotatably engaged with the base member to enable the height of the support pedestal to be adjusted by rotating the support member or the base member relative to the other. The support pedestal can also include a coupling member that can couple the base member to the support member for further increasing the height of the support pedestal, if necessary.
Support pedestals are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,685 by Kugler and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0261329 by Kugler et al., each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In some applications, the weight of the surface tiles is sufficient to keep the tiles safely supported by the pedestals. For example, concrete paver surface tiles can often be safely installed by simply placing the heavy pavers on the support pedestals. For less dense materials, such as wood or plastic, the surface tiles must typically be secured in some fashion to the support pedestals to prevent the tiles from moving in relation to adjacent tiles, or otherwise shifting on the support pedestals.
One problem associated with some methods of securing lighter weight surface tiles, such as wooden deck tiles, to underlying support pedestals is that the deck surface must maintain an aesthetically acceptable appearance. However, some methods use fasteners that are visible on the deck surface, which consumers may consider unappealing.
Another problem associated with some methods is that the surface tiles are mounted to the support pedestals in a manner that can cause damage to the surface tiles when they are removed, such as for tile replacement or for access to the surface beneath the tiles.
Another problem associated with some methods of securing the tiles is that even if the surface tiles are removable after being secured to the support pedestals, a single tile that is in the middle of the structure (e.g., not on the perimeter of the elevated building surface) can only be removed by first removing at least one adjacent surface tile. As a result, it is often necessary to remove many surface tiles to access and remove one tile that is disposed away from the surface perimeter, i.e., in a central portion of the building surface.
It is therefore one objective to provide a support pedestal that can securely support a surface tile without substantially affecting the aesthetic qualities of the building surface. It is another objective to provide a support pedestal that enables the removal of a surface tile from a building surface in a rapid and convenient manner. Any one or more of these objectives may be met in accordance with one or more of the various embodiments disclosed herein.
In one embodiment, a support pedestal is provided that includes a base member that is adapted to be placed upon a fixed surface. A support plate is disposed over the base member and includes a top surface. An anchoring washer that can be fastened to the support plate is provided, where the anchoring washer can simultaneously anchor a plurality of surface tiles to the support pedestal. The anchoring washer may be particularly adapted to release a surface tile that is anchored to the support pedestal by the anchoring washer when the anchoring washer is rotated. In one aspect, the anchoring washer has an outer perimeter and a notch formed in a portion of the outer perimeter, whereby the anchoring washer can be rotated to move the notch to a desired position, e.g., to disengage from a selected surface tile.
In one aspect, the anchoring washer can include a centrally disposed aperture for receiving a fastener to fasten the anchoring washer to the support pedestal. The aperture can also include a slot that is adapted to receive a tool for rotating the anchoring washer to a desired position. For example, the slot can be adapted to receive the end of a flat-head screwdriver or a similar tool that can be inserted into the slot to rotate the anchoring washer to a desired position.
In another aspect, the anchoring washer is substantially circular. That is, a substantial portion of the perimeter of the anchoring washer can be circular. A minimum notch angle may be desirable to ensure that the corner of a surface tile can pass through the notch, while a maximum notch angle may be desirable to ensure that the anchoring washer is capable of simultaneously anchoring a plurality of surface tiles on the support pedestal. In this regard, the notch can intersect at least about 60° of the anchoring washer perimeter and in another aspect intersects no more than about 130° of the washer perimeter, such as at least about 80° and not more than about 120° of the washer perimeter.
According to another aspect, a plurality of tile spacers extend upwardly from the top surface of the support plate, such as where the spacers are disposed on a crown member that is placed on the top surface. In another aspect, the support pedestal is a height-adjustable support pedestal. In another aspect, the support plate is disposed on a support member that is operatively attached to the base member. For example, the base member can include a cylindrical base member extension that extends upwardly when the base member is operatively placed on a fixed surface, where the base member extension includes base member threads. The support member can include a cylindrical support member extension that extends downwardly from the support plate and that is threadably attached to the base member extension, such as by being directly attached to the base member extension or by being attached to the base member extension using a coupling member disposed between the base member and the support member.
According to another embodiment, a support pedestal is provided that has an adjustable height. The support pedestal can include a base member having a base plate that is adapted to be placed upon a fixed surface, and a cylindrical base member extension having a cylindrical wall and extending upwardly from the base plate when the base member is operatively placed on the fixed surface. The cylindrical wall can include base member threads disposed on a surface of the wall. A support member is operatively attached to the base member, the support member having a cylindrical support member extension and a support plate having a top surface. The support member extension can include a cylindrical wall and support member threads disposed on a surface of the support member extension cylindrical wall, where the support member threads are adapted to threadably engage the base member threads, for example, to attach the support member to the base member and/or to adjust the height of the support pedestal. An anchoring washer is fastened to the support plate, the anchoring washer having an outer perimeter and a notch formed in a portion of the outer perimeter, the notch intersecting at least about 60° and not greater than about 130° of the washer perimeter.
In one aspect, the anchoring washer is fastened to the support plate with a threaded fastener. According to another aspect, the support pedestal also includes a coupling member that is coupled to the base member and the support member to operatively attach the support member to the base member.
According to another embodiment, an elevated building surface assembly is provided. The assembly can include a plurality of surface tiles supported and elevated by a plurality of support pedestals. The surface tiles can each include an outer edge that includes a plurality of corners with a kerf disposed in the corners. The support pedestals vertically support and elevate the surface tiles above a fixed surface, and the support pedestals include a support plate having a top surface for supporting the tiles, and an anchoring washer spaced apart from the top surface and fastened to the support plate by a fastener. The anchoring washers are disposed within the kerfs of adjacent surface tiles to anchor the surface tiles to the support pedestals. Further, the anchoring washers may be rotated to selectively disengage a surface tile from the support pedestal. For example, the anchoring washers can be substantially circular and can include a notch in an outer perimeter of the washers. When the notch is aligned with a corner of a selected surface tile, that surface tile can then be disengaged from the support pedestal.
According to one aspect, the anchoring washer includes a centrally disposed aperture for receiving a fastener, and a slot that is adapted to receive a tool for rotating the anchoring washer. According to another aspect, the surface tiles are selected from wooden surface tiles, plastic surface tiles and wood-plastic composite surface tiles. For example, the surface tiles can include at least one top board and at least two bottom rails supporting the top board, wherein the kerfs are generally disposed in an outer edge between the top board and the bottom rail. The support pedestals can have an adjustable height, and in one aspect the support pedestals include a base member that is adapted to be placed upon a fixed surface, where the base member includes a base member extension that extends upwardly when the base member is operatively placed on the fixed surface. A support member having a support member extension may be threadably attached to the base member extension.
According to another embodiment, a method for the construction of an elevated building surface assembly is provided. The method may include the step of placing a plurality of support pedestals upon a fixed surface with a predetermined spacing between the support pedestals. The elevated building surface assembly is constructed by placing surface tiles onto the support pedestals. In this regard, particularly with rectangular surface tiles, a corner of each of three surface tiles can be placed upon one of the support pedestals to partially support the three surface tiles. Other portions of the surface tiles can be supported by other support pedestals, as is desired. An anchoring washer is inserted into adjacent kerfs that are disposed in the corners of each of the three surface tiles above the support pedestals. A fourth surface tile can then be placed onto the support pedestal, such as where the fourth surface tile also includes a kerf disposed in the corner of the fourth surface tile. The anchoring washer can be rotated to a position that is adapted to anchor the four surface tiles to the support pedestal, and the anchoring washer can be secured to the support pedestal to anchor the surface tiles to the support pedestal.
To remove one of the surface tiles from the support pedestal, the anchoring washer can be loosened by rotating the anchoring washer to a position that releases one of the surface tiles from the support pedestals. The rotating steps can include inserting a tool into a slot that is disposed in the washer and rotating the anchoring washer using the tool.
These and other embodiments and aspects of support pedestals, building surface assemblies and methods for the construction of building surface assemblies will be apparent from the following description.
a and 9b illustrate an anchoring washer having a notch in the outer perimeter of the anchoring washer.
The support pedestals 101 can be placed in a spaced-apart relationship on fixed surfaces including, but not limited to, rooftops, on-grade (e.g., natural ground), over concrete slabs including cracked concrete slabs, and can be placed within water features, such as fountains. The elevated building surface assembly 100 can be used for both interior and exterior applications. Each of the surface tiles 102 is placed upon several support pedestals 101 to elevate the surface tiles 102 above the fixed surface. As illustrated in
The support pedestal 101 includes a base member 104 that is adapted to be placed upon a fixed surface, such as by placing the base member plate 105 on a fixed surface. The base member 104 includes a cylindrical base member extension 107 that extends upwardly from the base member plate 105 when the support pedestal 101 is operatively placed on the fixed surface. The cylindrical base member extension 107 includes a cylindrical base member extension wall 136 and base member threads 138 disposed on an outer surface of the base member extension wall 136.
A support member 106 is adapted to be operatively connected to the base member 104 and includes a top support plate 108 having a top surface 110. A cylindrical support member extension 109 extends downwardly from the support plate 108. The support member extension 109 includes a cylindrical wall 111 having support member threads 113 disposed on an interior surface of the cylindrical wall 111. The support member threads 113 can be adapted to threadably engage the base member threads 138 to connect the support member 106 to the base member 104.
As illustrated in
Thus, the coupling member 114 can engage both of the support member 106 and the base member 104 to couple the support member 106 to the base member 104 and provide an increased height for the support pedestal 101.
The support pedestal 101 can also include tile spacers 112 that are adapted to provide predetermined spacing for the surface tiles that are placed on the support pedestal 101. In this regard, the tile spacers 112 can project upwardly from the top support surface 110. As illustrated in
As is discussed above, an anchoring washer is utilized to anchor one or more surface tiles to a support pedestal. It is generally desirable that the anchoring washer be wholly or partially obstructed from view when observed from the top of the building surface so that the building surface maintains an aesthetically pleasing appearance. In this regard, the anchoring washer can be positioned below the top of the building surface, such as within one or more kerfs that are disposed in an outer edge of a surface tile, such as at the corner of a surface tile.
The surface tile 102 has an outer edge 116 around the perimeter of the surface tile 102. As illustrated in
A kerf 118 is disposed in the outer edge 116, particularly in a corner of the outer edge 116 of the surface tile 102. As illustrated in
In constructing an elevated building surface assembly, a plurality of surface tiles, such as four surface tiles, are placed upon each support pedestal such that each of the four corners of a surface tile is supported by a support pedestal.
In this regard,
a-9b illustrate an anchoring washer 124 for anchoring surface tiles to a support pedestal. The anchoring washer 124 includes an outer perimeter 125 and a notch 126 formed in a portion of the outer perimeter. As illustrated in
A fastener 132, such as a threaded fastener, can be inserted through the anchoring washer 124 to secure the washer 124 to the support pedestal, such as to the top support plate. The fastener 132 can be a fastener that is easily removable and replaceable. Both the fastener 132 and the washer 124 can be fabricated from a material that is resistant to corrosion, such as plastic. Other types of fasteners may be utilized to operatively fasten the anchoring washer to the support plate, including for example pop rivets or molly bolts.
The anchoring washer 124 can also include an aperture 128 having a centrally disposed slot 130. The slot 130 may be adapted to receive a tool, such as a flat head screwdriver, for rotating the washer 124. In this manner, the rotational position of the notch 126 in relation to the tiles can be changed to anchor and/or release selected tiles from a support pedestal. The slot 130 is particularly advantageous since the anchoring washer 124 is disposed within the kerfs and when the building surface is assembled, access to the washer 124 is limited to the central portion of the washer.
Referring to
Although described as being passed through the notch of the anchoring washer during construction, it will be appreciated that the fourth surface tile 102d can be placed onto the support in any manner of ways. For example, the anchoring washer can be rotated to its anchoring position so that a portion of the anchoring washer is exposed, and the fourth surface tile 102d can be slid onto the top surface of the support pedestal 101 such that the anchoring washer is laterally inserted into the kerf of the support tile 102d. Thereafter, the anchoring washer can be further tightened to anchor the surface tiles to the support pedestal 101, if necessary.
It is a particular advantage that the surface tiles 102 can be rapidly and conveniently removed from the elevated building surface assembly, such as to replace a defective surface tile or to access the space beneath a surface tile.
In this regard,
While various embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it is apparent that modifications and adaptations of those embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. However, is to be expressly understood that such modifications and adaptations are within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
