Assembly type do-it-yourself (DIY) floor tile

Abstract

An assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile having a plastic base made of plastic material by injection molding process, a plurality of positioning pieces being formed on a top surface of the plastic base, the bottom surface of the plastic base being hollow and having a plurality of supporting feet and lateral grooves, the plastic base having engaging grooves on two adjacent sides thereof with opening directed upwards, the plastic base further having an engaging tongue on each of the other two adjacent sides thereof for fitting into the engaging grooves; and tile body having a plurality of positioning grooves corresponding to the positioning pieces of the plastic base, the tile body being attached firmly with adhesive to the top surface of the plastic base.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to an assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile, and more particularly, to a DIY floor tile that doesn't need cement and sand as its fixing base.

2. Description of the Related Art

Floor tiles provide a smooth and bright surface, and are easily cleaned. Therefore, they play an important part in the building materials and widely received by house owners.

A conventional process to lay floor tiles is shown in FIG. 1. Firstly, a layer of concrete 11 is applied to the ground surface. Then, the floor tiles 12 are laid one after another to the concrete 11. At last, gaps between floor tiles 12 are filled with cement 13. However, this process has following drawbacks:

• 1. A perfect application of concrete to the ground must rely on the craft and skill of the floor tile layer, and their wage is very expensive, even higher than the tiles. For example, polishing quartz tiles in size of 45 cm×45 cm for a room of 4 square meter cost US$30˜50 while the wage for each square meter amounts to US$40˜50. When the cost of cement and sand is included, the high overall construction costs result in additional financial burden to the user. Furthermore, floor tile layers are often hard to hire if the construction project is small or for only partial interior decoration.
• 2. It's troublesome when the construction site is located in residential area because the cement and sand are easily scattered and left everywhere on the corridor, floor, and staircase.
• 3. Before laying the floor tile, the original floor has to be removed. Moreover, the cement structure takes up a great deal of time before next step is taken, thereby resulting in increase of construction duration. In addition, the noise made during the construction will seriously affect the life of neighborhood.

In light of construction cost, duration, and environment, the conventional floor tiles presents a lot of problems that need to be eliminated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a primary object of the invention to provide an assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile that doesn't require cement and sand, and doesn't reply on the floor tile layer. It's easy and cost-saving for normal consumers to lay the floor tile by themselves.

It is another object of the invention to provide an assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile that can be directly laid on the original building materials so that it can be avoided that they are removed to make noise for neighborhood.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile that consists of a plastic base and a tile body wherein the plastic base includes engaging grooves on two adjacent sides thereof and an engaging tongue on each of the other two adjacent sides thereof for fitting into the engaging grooves. The flexibility of the plastic material permits a tight engagement of the engaging tongues into the engaging grooves, thereby resulting in a rapid and convenient assembly. So, it is suitable for DIY installation.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile in which the tile body is fitted and glued to the plastic base wherein the bottom surface is hollow and includes a plurality of supporting feet to contact with the surface, thereby forming a point contact type and allowing an automatic adjustment to the uneven surface. Moreover, the plastic base provides lateral grooves for hiding different cables in the floor tile.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide an assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile through which the installation of the floor tile doesn't require concrete as its fixing base on the ground. In case of local damage of tiles, the invention allows a rapid replacement.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide an assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile through which the load on the floor can be relieved to enhance the safety of the whole building.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accomplishment of this and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following descriptions and its accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is schematic drawings of process in laying conventional tiles;

FIG. 2 is a first exploded view of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a second exploded view of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the invention after assembly;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bottom side of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing showing a first assembly way of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a cutaway view of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing showing a second assembly way of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a cutaway view of another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a cutaway view of another embodiment of the invention showing that stuffing is filled into gaps.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

First of all, referring to FIGS. 2 and 5, an assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile in accordance with the invention includes a plastic base 20 and a tile body 30.

The plastic base 20 is made of plastic material like polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), etc. by injection molding process. A plurality of positioning pieces 211 are formed on a top surface 21 of the plastic base 20. The plastic base 20 includes a plurality of engaging grooves 22 on two adjacent sides thereof and an engaging tongue 23 on each of the other two adjacent sides thereof. The engaging tongues 23 fit into the corresponding engaging grooves 22. As shown in FIG. 5, the bottom surface of the plastic base 20 is hollow and includes a plurality of supporting feet 24 and lateral grooves 25 for receiving cables.

The tile body 30 includes a plurality of positioning grooves 311 corresponding to the positioning pieces 211 of the plastic base 20. The tile body 30 is attached firmly with adhesive 32 to the top surface 21 of the plastic base 20 to form an assembly type floor tile 40 (see FIG. 4). The adhesive 32 can be glue or resin. The tile body 30 can be attached to the plastic base 20 by automatic machine tools before leaving factory. By fitting several positioning pieces 211 into the positioning grooves 311 to form the assembly type floor tile 40, it can ensure a firm connection without slip action.

As shown in FIG. 6, each unit of the assembly type floor tile 40 in accordance with the invention includes the engaging grooves 22 at the left and the front side thereof while the engaging tongues 23 are formed at the right and the rear side of the assembly type floor tile 40. Only by fitting the assembly type floor tiles 40 into each other, as shown in FIG. 7, the engaging tongue 23 can be inserted into the engaging grooves 22. Meanwhile, the engaging grooves 22 and the engaging tongue 23 are formed together with the plastic base 20 in a body. Due to the flexibility of the plastic material, the insertion of the engaging tongue 23 into the engaging grooves 22 produces a tight engagement, thereby resulting in a reliable assembly. Moreover, each of the engaging grooves 22 has an opening directed upwardly while each of the engaging grooves 22 has an inserting body directly downwardly. In this way, it's very easy for users to understand how to assemble the floor tile of the invention, thereby permitting a successful DIY action without any tools.

Again, referring to FIG. 6, the bottom side of the plastic base 20 of the assembly type floor tile 40 in accordance with the invention is formed with lateral grooves 25 in which all kinds of cables 50 like telephone cables, telecommunication cables, network cables, etc., may be received. Meanwhile, the plastic base 20, as shown in FIG. 7, includes several supporting feet 24 to contact with the ground surface unlike the conventional one with the whole bottom surface to contact it. Therefore, the supporting feet 24 will adapt to different ground surfaces when the plastic base 20 is attached to an uneven surface. This avoids deformation of the assembly type floor tile 40 after assembly.

In addition, the assembly type floor tiles 40 can be arranged either in alignment way (see FIG. 6) or in staggered way (see FIG. 8). The area and the shape of the assembly type floor tile 40 can be selected in accordance with different requirements.

Furthermore, referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, the tile body 30 of the assembly type floor tile 40 in accordance with the invention can be designed to be smaller than the plastic base 20 so as to form a gap (t) against a wall (w) or at the joint of two assembly type floor tiles 40. The gap (t) can be filled with stuffing 33 which is selected from a group consisting of water-repellent resin, silicone, mastic, etc. So, there is no gaps on the surface of the tiles after their installation. This prevents water from seeping into the gap in cleaning the assembly type floor tiles 40. Meanwhile, the stuffing 33 can reinforce the connection of the assembly type floor tiles 40 and make the whole surface smooth and appealing.

Based upon the above-mentioned configuration, the engaging tongues 23 at the right and the rear side of one assembly type floor tile 40 are fitted from top to bottom into the engaging grooves 22 at the left and the front side of another assembly type floor tile 40 to permit two-side attachment with only one action, thereby facilitating the laying of assembly type floor tiles 40. Beside, only the tile body 30 is visible and the plastic base 20 is completely invisible after the assembly type floor tiles 40 are laid so that the invention has the same appearance and provides the same supporting force as the conventional tiles supported by concrete. Moreover, the plastic base 20 can be melted for recycling purpose.

The invention is suitable for DIY laying in a small room. Moreover, it's easy to replace the tiles when they are locally damaged unlike the conventional tiles whose removal takes up a great deal of effort and time when damaged.

Many changes and modifications in the above-described embodiments of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile comprising:

a) a plastic base made of plastic material by injection molding process, a plurality of positioning pieces being formed on a top surface of the plastic base, the bottom surface of the plastic base being hollow and having a plurality of supporting feet and lateral grooves, the plastic base having engaging grooves on two adjacent sides thereof with opening directed upwards, the plastic base further having an engaging tongue on each of the other two adjacent sides thereof for fitting into the engaging grooves; and

b) a tile body having a plurality of positioning grooves corresponding to the positioning pieces of the plastic base, the tile body being firmly attached with adhesive to the top surface of the plastic base.

2. The assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile as recited in claim 1 wherein the bottom surface of the plastic base includes a plurality of lateral grooves for receiving cables.

3. The assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile as recited in claim 1 wherein the engaging grooves are formed at the left and the front side of the plastic base while the engaging tongues are formed at the right and the rear side of thereof.

4. The assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile as recited in claim 1 wherein the tile body is selected from a group consisting natural stony material and baked clay.

5. The assembly type Do-It-Yourself (DIY) floor tile as recited in claim 1 wherein the area of the tile body is smaller than that of the plastic base so as to form between every two tile bodies a gap in which stuffing is filled.