TOOL-LESS SWING ARM MECHANICAL EDGE SETTING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SETTING TILES AND TUNING LIPPAGE
A tile aligning and lippage tuning system that uses an under tile base reusable upright connecting tab, which is detachably connected to said under tile base, a reusable flexible edge slotted cap, configured to slip over the connecting tab and latch thereto as the cap is slid further down the connecting tab. The cap has an edge slot so that the connecting tab can be separated from the cap, by merely sliding the cap, so that the connecting tab passes through the slot. A flexible spring-like portion of the cap provides increased force on the tile, even if undesired elongation of the connecting tab occurs.
This invention relates to systems and methods for laying tile and, more specifically, for efficiently reducing tile lippage. Throughout this description, the term tile is used as an example of various matter which is arranged or disposed adjacent a substrate (which can be horizontal—floors or vertical—walls or other) in multiple pieces, the term tile should be understood to include panels, sheets, boards, paving stones, bricks, stone or porcelain slabs or the like. The present invention relates more specifically to improved methods and systems which use tab systems to align tiles.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,861,487, U.S. Design Pat. D63077 and the web site www.tuscanleveling.com describe a system for aligning tiles. While such systems have enjoyed some success in the past, they do have drawbacks. Typically, such systems require the use of a tool to tighten a strap and cap combination. The tile laying professional would typically use the tool by firmly grasping a lever, trigger or other structure on the tool and causing the gap between the cap and the base of the strap to decrease. The amount and duration of the squeezing of the tool, in some designs, may determine the amount of relative movement between the cap and the base of the strap. Knowing how hard to squeeze and when to stop could be a critical skill in certain applications. Also having the requisite hand grasping strength could be an issue for some tile laying professionals.
Consequently, there is a need for improvement in tile aligning and lippage tuning systems and methods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONMore specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a cost effective tile aligning and mechanical edge setting system.
It is a feature of the present invention to include a tool-less cap structure disposed above the tile.
It is an advantage of the present invention to decrease the time required to perform each job.
It is another feature of the invention to include a cap system that is swing arm that is detachable from the tab or shaft, while the tab remains in place attached to the base located under the tile.
It is also an advantage of the present invention to provide improved ease of use and reduce unwanted dislocation of tiles after desired placement is accomplished.
It is another feature of the present invention to change how pressure is applied to the surface of the tile and the connecting tab.
It is another advantage of the present invention to reduce over tightening of cap and strap combinations.
The present invention includes the above-described features and achieves the aforementioned objects.
Accordingly, the present invention comprises a tile leveling and mechanical edge setting system with a swing arm cap, which is easily installed on, and removable from, an attached connecting tab or shaft without the need for a specialized tool.
In the following description of the drawings, in which like reference numerals are employed to indicate like parts in the various views:
Referring now to the drawings, where like numerals refer to like matter throughout, and more particularly to
Interstitial strap 110 and swing arm cap 120 are configured so that interstitial strap 110 remains stationary, while swing arm cap 120 pivots around interstitial strap 110.
The materials used, the size and the shape of swing arm cap 120, and particularly first swing arm cap foot portion 122 and second swing arm cap foot portion 124, may be different depending upon the thickness of the tile, the grout or thin set material or other factors. An assortment of differently made swing arm caps 120 could be utilized to address these many different variables. The various versions of the swing arm cap 120, in such an assortment, could be configured to be used with a common interstitial strap 110. In some cases, the differences between variations of interstitial strap 110 could be simply the length of the separation between the first swing arm cap foot portion 122 and the pivot point on the swing arm cap mating stop portion 126.
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When the interstitial strap 110 is pulled laterally and the plate to strap mating pin enlarged terminal portion 604 is moved away from the enlarged terminal portion receiving hole 702, the play between the interstitial strap 110 and the under tile detachable plate 206 is dramatically reduced, (i.e. the permitted range of relative movement is made much smaller). The direction of force to shear multi-diameter stepped plate to strap mating pins 602 is orthogonal to the force used to tighten and reduce the play in the interstitial strap 110, is also shown with a bulbous pin portion receiving hole 204, a middle hole 710 for thinner tile than used with bulbous pin portion receiving hole 204, and a bottom hole 712 for even thinner tile. The height of the strap is labeled H, while the width of the strap is labeled W and the thickness of the strap is labeled T.
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Throughout this description, the term lippage is used and is hereby defined as meaning relatively uneven edges existing with respect to adjacent tiles arranged in an array.
It is believed that when these teachings are combined with the known prior art by a person skilled in the art of the prior art systems, many of the beneficial aspects and the precise approaches to achieve those benefits will become apparent.
It will be understood that certain features and sub-combinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and sub-combinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.
Since many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is understood that all matter herein shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
Claims
1. A tile aligning and leveling system comprising:
- a connecting tab having a first tab end and a second tab end, a proximal edge and a distal edge;
- a tile mating member, sized and configured to be placed adjacent to one of a plurality of tiles, said tile mating member being coupled to said second tab end; and
- a rotating structure coupled to said connecting tab, the rotating structure comprising: a first portion and a second portion; where said first portion is proximal to said first tab end and is configured to permit said rotating structure to be rotated about said connecting tab and separated from said connecting tab, while said connecting tab remains coupled to said tile mating member; wherein said connecting tab has a receiving hole therein and where said rotating structure is detachably coupled to said connecting tab; wherein said receiving hole is sized and configured to allow a shaft to rotate inside said receiving hole; and said first portion being configured so that when rotated about said connecting tab, in a direction from said proximal edge toward said distal edge, a deflection in said second portion occurs, thereby creating a force which is applied, at a distal location with respect to said proximal edge, and across the plurality of tiles, where said force urges a said plurality of tiles in a direction away from said first tab end and toward said tile mating member.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein said first portion and said second portion are separated by an intermediate extension region.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein said intermediate extension region has a fixed length dimension.
4. The system of claim 1 further comprising a means for accommodating differing tile thicknesses by adjusting a bottom maximum extent of said rotating cap system.
5. The system of claim 4 wherein said means for accommodating comprises a plurality of rotating pin receiving holes in said connecting tab.
6. A system for reducing lippage in a plurality of tiles comprising the steps of:
- a base configured to be located in a bonding material;
- a first tile disposed on said base;
- a strap extending from said base; where the strap has a height above the base as a longest dimension along a strap longitudinal axis; a width of the strap, which runs in a line parallel to a longitudinal axis of a grout joint containing said strap has a shorter dimension but a dimension that is longer than a thickness dimension of the strap in a line which is orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the grout joint; and
- a rotating arm which; rotates around an axis passing through said strap, and provides a predetermined maximum pressure onto a surface of one of said plurality of tiles by rotating said rotating arm about the axis, which is in a plane parallel to and elevated above a plane of said plurality of tiles, where the axis is also perpendicular to a width axis of said strap.
7. The system of claim 6 wherein said rotating arm is detachably coupled to the strap.
8. The system of claim 6 wherein said rotating arm is vertically adjustable.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein said base has gripping teeth.
10. A system of claim 8 further comprising a cap base portion coupled with an upper cap spring-like portion.
11. A system of claim 10 wherein said cap base portion comprises a cap base portion core, a cap base flange and a cap base buttress.
12. A tile aligning and leveling system comprising:
- a first member;
- a base, configured to be placed adjacent to a plurality of planar objects, said base having a void therein, which is configured to receive therein and advance therethrough with a non-rotational motion, a portion of said first member;
- a second member comprising: a spring-like portion and a base portion where said spring-like portion has a removal slot therein, which is sized and configured to permit said spring-like portion to be displaced from said first member, while said first member remains coupled to said base.
13. The tile aligning system of claim 12 wherein said first member is an elongated member and said base is sized and configured to be placed below a tileplanar object in said plurality of planar objects.
14. The tile aligning system of claim 12 wherein said first member is reusable.
15. The tile aligning system of claim 12 wherein said removal slot extends entirely to an exterior edge of said spring-like portion.
16. The tile aligning system of claim 12 wherein said removal slot has a constant opening width dimension.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 26, 2016
Publication Date: Jan 12, 2017
Inventors: James P. Hoffman (Keokuk, IA), Michele Volponi (Keokuk, IA)
Application Number: 15/275,923