The present invention relates to tiles for the laying of heating cables or other heating or cooling elements in surfaces, such as floor, adapted for heating or cooling. Further, the present invention relates to a method for coating a surface with a heating or cooling coat incorporating the above-mentioned tiles.

Surfaces which today are used for heating or cooling purposes, e.g. bath or wet room floors, floors in ice halls and the like, are to a substantial degree formed by first casting a heating element in the form of a heating cable or a pipe into a concrete plate and, thereafter, coating the concrete plate with a suitable water-proof coat. This method is laborous and time-consuming, i.a. because the cables/ pipes have to be taped to the underlying reinforcing net or heat distributing net, and the concrete plate must be straightened subsequent to casting/hardening. Moreover, when electrical heating cables are involved, metallic contact will easily occur between the cable mantle and the underlying metal net, so that the electrical insulation condition becomes weak and insecure. Besides, a substantial disadvantage associated with a heating and cooling method based on casting pipe or cable elements into concrete floors, is that such floors cannot be used for a long time (a couple of months) because of the risk for fractures, in the concrete floor.

From U.S. patent specification No. 3,694,622 and Norwegian patent specification No. 157,730 methods for the heating of floors are known, based on the casting-in of heating elements within a plastic layer containing metal particles to conduct the heat. With these solutions, it is a disadvantage that the casting takes place in situ and in several steps, so that large amounts of gas are developed for some considerable time, requiring satisfactory protective measures both for the fitters and other persons staying in the area. A further deficiency linked to the coating methods in question is that they require a relatively large ability from one professional group, electricians, to perform work within another technical field, casting technique. Besides, the work ifself is time- consuming and requires high accurancy in order to achieve a satisfactory plane surface, combined with a low consumption of coating material.

The object of the present invention is to provide a solution in coating of surfaces with a heating or cooling plant, wherein the above-mentioned disadvantages are avoided, i.e. wherein

- the consumption of time for the laying of the coat is reduced to a minimum,

- the costs are low, i.a. because a better control with material consumption is effected,

- the heat distribution properties are good, simultaneously as

- a very plane surface and a hight strength are obtained,

- material tensions are reduced because of the fact that the tiles according to the invention are hardened prior to being put together to large surfaces,

- gasses are reduced during assemblage, and

- the requirement for professional competence during laying is substantially less.

The invention is characterized in that a tile as mentioned introductorily, at least partly, is made from a material

having heat-conducting properties and that it is provided with grooves wherein heating or cooling elements are adapted to be attached, as defined in the attached claim 1.

The invention is further characterized by a method wherein, on the surface to be coated, first is applied spatula or adhesive which, possibly, is reinforced through a reinforcement, e.g. a glass fibre mat; whereafter tiles are laid such that the grooves therein form a loop-shaped pattern; that the heating elements are adhered into the grooves by means of a heat-conducting adhesive, e.g. acryl plastic admixed aluminium needles and that, finally, a heat barrier is laid, as defined in the dependent claim 8.

The claims 2-7 and 9-12 define advantageous features of the invention.

The invention is now to be closer described by means of an example and with reference to the figures of the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows, seen from above and in longitudinal section, a tile according to the invention.

Figure 2 shows, seen from above and on a smaller scale, a portion of a floow coated with tiles as shown in figure l.

Figure 3 shows, in cross section and on a larger scale, a portion of a tiled surface wherein two layers of tiles have been used.

Figure 4 shows, seen from above and in cross section, an alternatively shaped tile.

Figure 5 shows an example of a coat wherein tiles according to the invention are incorporated.

As indicated above, figure 1 shows a tile according to the

invention. This tile has been made from an upper layer 1 of heat-conducting material and a lower layer 2 of a material having a low thermal diffusivity.

In per se, any kind of material having good shape-stability as well as fulfilling the requirements of the building authorities may be used. However, one prefers to use as heat-conducting material a plastic material, particularly acryl plastic containing needles, flakes or the like of metal, especially aluminium. Further, one prefers to use a corresponding plastic material in the lower, insulating layer 2.

The tile shown in figure 1 has an elongated shape having a partial circular, convex front end 3 and a correspondingly concave rear end 4. A partial circular groove or cavity 5 extends along the entire external edge of the tile.

By assembling tiles of this type such that rows of tiles point in opposite directions as indicated in figure 2, the cavities 5 form semi-circular grooves 6 extending along a loop-shaped pattern "between" the tiles. Heating/cooling elements in the form of heating cables or pipes 21 may now be laid into the grooves 6, and figure 2 shows an example of a portion of such a pipe or cable loop.

In order to obtain a good contact between the tiles and the heating/cooling elements, in order to achieve the best possible heat transfer, the heating/cooling elements concerned should be glued or fastened by spatula within the grooves by means of heat-conducting adhesive/spatula, e.g. acryl plastic admixed metal powder.

Instead of using one layer of tiles as shown in figure 2, one may, in some cases, when the diameter of the heating/ ■cooling elements exceeds the depth of the grooves, lay two layers of tiles as indicated in figure 3, As will appear, an upper layer 8, the grooves thereof facing downwards, has

been laid on top of the first layer. Hereby, channels 9 having circular cross section have been formed between the tiles, and the heating/cooling elements 10 are arranged within these channels 9. Also in this case glue 11 has been used in order to obtain a good "heat contact" between the heating/cooling elements and the surrounding tiles.

Figure 4 shows an example of an alternatively shaped tile having a rectangular shape. Here, each of the grooves 12 extends along a bow from a corner at one side to a corner at the same side. The groove 12 in the example shown here has a semi-circular shape. However, it is to be noted that the invention is not restricted to this design/shape or to the shape of the groove 5 as shown in figure 1. Thus, the grooves may have any shape, dependent i.a. on the shape of the heating/cooling elements. The tile shown in figure 4 has also fracture-forming grooves 13 in order to enable simple dividing of the tiles.

Figure 5 shows an example of a floor coated with a heating coat, and wherein tiles according to the invention have been used. The heating coat has been laid on a concrete plate 14, and the method used during the coating has been as follows:

On top of the concrete plate 14 was first laid a glue layer

15. Thereafter, tiles 16 were laid following a pattern as shown in figure 2. One may add that the tiles were of the two-layer type as shown in figure 1, comprising an upper layer 1 of heat-conducting material and a lower layer 2 of insulating material. Subsequent to the laying of the tiles

16, the heating cable 17 was laid into and fastened to the grooves by means of glue 18 admized metal particles in the form of rapidly solidifying aluminium needles. Thereafter, on top of the tiles 16 and the cable 17, a glue layer 19 and ceramic floor tiles 20 were laid. Moreover, within the glue layer, a reinforcement was inserted in order to prevent cracks and avoid passage of moisture. In this example, the glue layer 19 and the floor tiles 20 serve as heat barrier.

The heat barrier secures a more even distribution of the heat toward the surface.

In the foregoing, it is indicated the use of a glue layer 15 between the concrete floor 14 and the tiles 16, further a glue layer between the tiles 16 and the ceramic tiles 20, as well as glue 18 for the fastening of the cable 17. For all three cases suitably the same kind of glue was used, namely an acryl plastic from which also the tiles were made in this case.

As far as figure 5 is concerned, it should be noted that the invention is not limited to this example. Thus, instead of a heat barrier consisting of acryl plastic 19 and ceramic tiles, it would e.g. be possible to use only one layer of acryl plastic, or it could be used a floor coating having the necessary properties with respect to heat resistance and the like. Besides, other types of plastic material may be used, e.g. polyester, and to the plastic material it may be advantageous to add sand, e.g. quartz sand, Nefelin or olivine, - in order to increase the heat capacity of the tiles, and simultaneously reduce the amount of plastic material.

Further, it should be noted that the invention is not restricted to plane (flat) tiles as shown in the figures, but may comprise tiles of any shape adapted to curved surfaces, pipes or the like.