BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION It is generally known to provide for borders for garden features. These are often provided as fixed structures that might be, for example, provided as stone set somewhat into the ground surface.

Where a border is provided, for example, to a feature such as a pond there is generally some overlapping over the pond edge, and loose stone simply will not be stable enough. A footing structure is often required for a stone feature, unless the stone is of a substantial size, and often such a footing requires metal reinforcement to provide sufficient structure rigidity to withstand the movement that occurs in soils due to moisture variation. The provision of such border thus become a major exercise that can be very expensive and/or time consuming.

Structures that require minimal structural integrity have been provided as borders to raised beds, for example, flexible sheet metal strips have been inserted upright to provide for a modest raising of a bed. Similarly a number of vertically aligned short posts either or wood or plastics have been provided to provide a retaining means. These however are not provided in the form of laterally stable structures that have an inherency of stability of shape.

The present invention may be applicable to connection and/or disconnection requiring manipulation without the aid of sight. The problem of such manipulation is that components of the interconnection are not readily identified, aligned or the extent of movement required to connect or disconnect cannot readily be ascertained during manipulation.

Similarly there is an additional problem in ensuring that there is stable interconnection. Thus where the tiles are intended to collectively take up a shape it may be important that relative lateral horizontal movement of adjacent tiles is limited, so that an assembled concatenation of tiles can be assembled and then carried to the installation site with minimal disruption to the shape formed.

Furthermore when positioned on the ground it is also desired that relative vertical movement is also kept small so that when, for example, a tile is stepped on, its position relative to an adjacent tile is not significantly altered.

Also desirable is that such interconnection is readily releasable, so that adjustments might be made to the pattern that is designed by the concatenation of the tiles.

It an object of the present invention to obviate or reduce any one or more of the above problems or at least provide the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a first aspect the invention could be said to reside in an interconnectable tile, having a decorative upper surface, and interconnection means at one or more edges thereof said interconnection means adapted to provide for lateral stability to connections between adjacent connected tiles.

In a second aspect the invention might be said to reside in a concatenation of a plurality of flat moulded tiles, reversably interconnected by interconnection means to provide lateral stability to the relative position of adjacent tiles.

In a third aspect the invention could be said to reside in a pond kit comprising a plurality of tiles of this invention and a pond liner, the number of tiles commensurate with a periphery of the pond that can be formed with the liner size.

In a fourth aspect the invention could be said to reside in a pond formed by the third aspect of the invention.

In one form the tiles are four sided each side being defined by an edge, an elevation of which is small relative to a transverse dimension of the tile to give the flat profile. Preferably an upper surface of the tile provides a decorative face, which might give the appearance of a particularly preferred form of stone, for example a slate tile In one form the interconnection means are provided by a spigot and socket arrangement, a socket of a first tile engagable with a socket of an adjacent second tile. Preferably the interconnection means provides for interconnection that is effective at least at two laterally spaced positions for each interconnected edge to thereby provide for lateral stability of the connection. Such lateral stability could be provided by, for example, two pairs of spigots and sockets aligned along an edge. Preferably the interconnection means are configured in a snap fit arrangement. Alternatively a continuous connector could be provided such as in the form of hook and loop tape connectors such as sold under the trade mark Velcro and the continuous connector being aligned laterally.

Preferably the interconnection means allows for abutting of adjacent sides of adjacent tiles however, it might be desired to allow for interconnections of spaced apart tiles. Most preferably the interconnection means are integrally formed with the tiles Whilst not preferred, separate interconnection means might be provided and edges of the tiles presenting a means for engaging the interconnection means.

It might be desired to additionally provide for ground engaging means to stabilise the lateral position of the tile. Thus one or more protruberances might be provided on the underside of the tile to engage the ground, preferably a plurality of protruberances are provided, and in one form the protruberances are configured to break the surface of the ground. The protruberances might, for example, be spikes. Alternatively frictional engagement might be preferred.

The tiles are preferably formed from a plastics material and one that preferably is made to withstand outdoor weather conditions. The plastic might, for example, be a polypropylene.

A convenient method of making such tiles is by injection moulding. The tile might have a substantially continuous upper web with two side skirts, and two end skirts to give an appearance, when in place, of a solid tile, the interconnecting means are preferably formed on the end skirts. The underside of the tile might be substantially hollow with generally vertical reinforcing ribs traversing the hollow. The reinforcing ribs are preferably positioned to provide for sufficient mechanical strength so that the tile can be stepped on without bending, so that the appearance of a stone like tile is maintained. The transverse ribs if approximately in line with the lowest part of the side and end skirts will be to some extent ground engaging although it might be desired to have these or portions of these extending below the level of the skirts.

A concatenation of the tiles of the present invention might be useful for a variety of purposes. For example to border a pond. The tiles of the present invention might be made sufficiently wide to form a garden path, or they might be useful as a means for delineating a garden bed. Whilst it is anticipated that the tiles of the present invention will be substantially flat certain aspects of the invention might include tiles that are raised, or have raised portions. The tiles might, for example, have somewhat of an L shaped or inverted T shaped cross section having a horizontal portion as well as a vertical portion and might thus be used to provide a degree of retaining capacity when used for example to delineate a garden bed.

The kit of the present invention preferably includes just two types of tiles, a generally rectangular tile with straight sides, and a curved tile with a set degree of curvature. Indeed it has been found that where a kit is provided with solely curved tile that a great number of aesthetically pleasing shapes can be constructed. The degree of curvature of the curved tile might be varied, but generally a curvature of less than a quarter of a circle is desired, curvature that is too small results in difficulty in forming a pond that has sufficient aesthetic interest, and a most desirable degree of curvature might be in the order of about one eighth of

a circle. Alternatively it might be desired to form simple angular geometric shapes such as squares, rectangles and the like, in which case rectangular and perhaps a triangular tile might be desired. It will be understood that the broader form of the kit according to this invention is not particularly limited in terms of the shape of tile that might be used.

A preferred embodiment of this invention arises from the provision of a reversible snap fit interconnection between two adjoining tiles. The snap fit interconnection provides for connection between a first and second of the two tiles and is provided in two parts, the first part on a first of the tiles includes an aperture and a capturing ledge on the underside of the first tile and said capturing ledge spaced inside of a periphery of said first tile, the second part comprises a spigot extending away from a periphery of said second tile, said spigot including an engaging surface for capture by the capturing ledge spaced from the periphery of said second tile and also including a finger operable portion, finger pressure on the finger operable portion flexes the spigot laterally to disengage the capturing ledge to thereby allow withdrawal from the aperture.

The spigot part of the interconnection means may be integrally formed as part of the second tile or it may be provided separately and engagable therewith.

Preferably the two tiles are joined by two laterally spaced apart interconnections. This offers the advantage of lateral stability to the connection between the two tiles. The two laterally spaced apart interconnections provided on one tile will be understood to comprise part only of the whole interconnection.

Preferably each tile provides for connection between two or more adjoining tiles, and more preferably there is provision for two laterally spaced apart interconnections between the two or more adjoining tiles. Alternatively the aperture on the first tile may be axially elongate with that portion of the spigot that nests therein in the engaged position taking on a complementary shape.

Where spigots are integrally formed and there are more spigots extending out of the periphery than are needed for connection to adjoining tiles these may be severable, such that they may simply be cut off to provide a finish flush with the periphery of the tile. It will be readily understood that the tile of the present invention might form a linear concatenation to form a path or border or the like of a single tile width, additionally however the tiles can be joined not only end on end to form such concatenation but also side to side so that a path or border of two or more tiles in width can be formed or alternatively an area might be covered of several tiles long and several tiles wide.

It is preferred that one of the two laterally spaced interconnections will be the first part of a interconnection and a second of the two laterally spaced interconnections will be the second part of an interconnection. Thus an aperture and capturing ledge will be provided spaced laterally from a spigot. This is particularly useful where the tile is generally rectangular in shape or has a shape where there are at least two opposed end sides so that each of the end sides have two laterally spaced apart interconnections. This then allows connection to adjacent tiles either in one direction, or disconnection and rotation through say 180° to reverse the side being connected. Alternatively where the spigot part of the interconnection means is separable from the tiles, it may be engageable with a second aperture, the second aperture could be configured to be the same as the first aperture, so that two apertures may be present side by side on the same tile with the spigot portions interconnectable through either or both apertures and perhaps at the choice of the user in either direction.

It is envisaged that the interconnection of the present invention may provide advantages for connection for a range of tiles. Generally it is envisaged that the tile concerned will provide for an upper surface with the interconnection being provided under the surface. The upper flat surface might thus be unencumbered to allow for traffic such as foot traffic in the case of a path or alternatively provide for a delineating border such as an edging for a pond, garden bed or the like. The web forming the upper surface will typically be flat and may be a continuous web of material, or alternatively may be a structure with patterned apertures to

delineate a path on a grassed area such that grass may grow therethrough such as may be used for parking of a vehicle.

In the above it is anticipated that the upper web is supported above a lowest surface and that the aperture of the interconnection may be formed through a flange extending downwardly from the upper web. The flange may essentially be a tab through which the aperture passes, or alternatively it could be discontinuous or in another alternative could be a continuous skirt depending from the periphery of the upper web. In the latter configuration the continuous skirt might be ground engaging however it may in situ be at least partially buried.

Preferably the aperture is defined within a continuous surface so as to be fully defined peripherally, because that provides for vertical stability for the interconnection. However the aperture may be open downwardly to form a slot, the downward opening may be narrowed relative to the cross sectional dimension of the aperture to provide vertical retention for the spigot or alternatively may be of the same cross sectional dimension to simplify manufacturing of the item.

An alignment guide may be included with the first part, which guide is preferably tapered relative to the path of the spigot whereby to contact the spigot so as to align the engaging ledge with the capturing ledge when the spigot is passed through the aperture.

A convenient manner of supporting the capturing ledge and spigot guide is from the upper web.

It is also preferred that the first part includes a disconnection stop, whereby the stop is spaced from an opposite side of the spigot relative to the capturing ledge sufficiently so that on contact between the spigot and the stop the engaging ledge has disengaged sufficiently from the capturing ledge to allow for withdrawal of the spigot from the aperture. Thus when finger pressure is exerted to disengage the spigot this contacts the stop to indicate that the

spigot has moved sufficiently to disengage from the capturing ledge giving a good non-visual indication to facilitate manipulation of the interconnection means.

The engaging ledge may be formed on the lagging face of a lateral protrusion on the spigot, the leading face of the protrusion being bevelled to assist with passage when bearing against the alignment guide to facilitate passage thereagainst.

Preferably a proximal portion of the spigot is shaped to fit closely to the shape of the aperture. This close fit reduces the amount of lateral movement between the parts when fitted. A collar can be provided to extend inwardly of the flange to increase the depth of the aperture and thus the extent of the close fit of the spigot with the aperture.

Flexibility of the spigot may be provided particularly horizontally by having at least a portion of the spigot flattened vertically to facilitate horizontal lateral flexibility.

The engaging ledge and capturing ledge are preferably correspondingly spaced from the interface between the two adjacent tiles to provide for a close fit, this closeness of spacing reduces the amount of relative movement between adjacent tiles.

The spigot may preferably be generally elongate and configured for passage through a closed aperture, a proximal portion of the spigot is preferably complementary in shape with the aperture and closely fitting therewith, and relatively inflexible, the spigot is preferably tapered to form a flexible portion of the spigot the engaging ledge is spaced distal from the inflexible portion, and the finger operable portion is preferably defined distal of the engaging ledge.

When the interconnection means is engaged the finger operable portion is preferably well clear of any of the first part of the interconnection and is readily accessible.

It is to be understood that the tile is generally a unitary moulded article, however the invention may also be applicable where products are multipart, and one or both of the two parts of the interconnection are made separately from the product. It will be appreciated that the spigot portion in particular might readily be made as a separate part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding one embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to drawings wherein, Figure 1 is a sketch of a part cutaway view of a pond having a border formed by a concatenation of tiles according to this invention, Figure 2 is a sketch of a perspective view of an end of a tile according to this invention showing an end skirt and some detail of a first part of one form of interconnection means, Figure 3 is a sketch of a plan view of an end of a tile according to this invention showing detail of a second part of one form of interconnection means, Figure 4 is an underside perspective view of a curved tile according a second embodiment of this invention, Figure 5 is plan view showing detail of the interconnection between two adjacent tiles of rectangular dimensions when the spigot is engaged with the capturing surface, Figure 6 is a plan view essentially as in Figure 5 but where the spigot has been disengaged from the capturing surface, and

Figure 7 is an underside detailed view of a second embodiment of interconnection between two adjacent tiles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION It is to be understood that these figures, are not necessarily drawn to scale but are simply illustrative to provide a better understanding of the invention. In particular it is to be noted that the relative sizes of the parts of the illustrated interconnection means are not given as a true indication.

Referring to Figures 1,2 and 3.

Provided is a flat tile (1) made of moulded plastics material that can be interconnected with a plurality of like tiles to form a concatenation of such tiles. The shape of the concatenation is relatively stable because the interconnection means provides for lateral stability.

Each tile is formed from a plastics material that can withstand weathering. It is intended to mimic the appearance of a natural stone'and in the illustrated embodiment is intended to mimic the appearance of slate, and will be coloured accordingly. Thus a grey or black colouring might be provided, and perhaps other colours might also be streaked through the base colour or provided in larger patches in a manner to provide the aesthetic appearance that is desired. The shape of the upper surface might also be given a suitable contour to enhance the impression of being slate. In order to mimic the appearance of slate, or other stone, the upper surface (2) of the tile is continuous, the sides (3,4) might also be angularly formed to give the appearance of cut slate.

The underside of the tile is generally hollow so as to minimise the amount of plastics material used, and also to keep low the weight of the product with the costs of freight in mind. Thus the tile is includes a continuous web of plastics defining the upper surface (2) and four skirts, being two side skirts (3,4) and two end skirts (5,6). Reinforcing ribs are

formed in the hollow of the underside to provide for resistance to bending of the continuous web defining the upper surface.

The interconnecting means are formed in end skirts of the tiles, and in this illustrated form of tiles is adapted to hold the tile in abutting position so that when the plurality of tiles are concatenated the end skirts are not visible.

It can be seen that the interconnection means takes the form of a socket and spigot arrangement. A first of the tiles as seen in figure 2 has two spaced apart sockets (7,8) defined by cut out portions of the end skirt (5). A second of the tiles as seen in figure 3 has two spaced apart spigots one of which is shown at (9). A terminal end of the spigot is enlarged (10), the remained of the spigot defines a groove (11) between the spigot and end skirt (6). The dimension of the groove fits closely with the dimensions of the thickness of the end skirt (5) so that an inward facing annular surface (12) of the enlarged portion of the spigot (9) when engaged fits close to an inwardly facing surface of the end skirt (5) adjacent the socket. The provision of two spaced apart and closely fitting spigot and socket arrangements provides for lateral stability of the interconnection. It will also be appreciated that the tile whilst interconnectable can also readily be disconnected.

The pond kit thus comprises a plurality of rectangular (straight) or curved tiles as described above together with a pond liner (13). The pond liner can be a robust plastics or rubber liner or perhaps a moulded fibreglass or plastics formed pond. Most preferably the liner is a plastics liner with can be readily folded and packed compactly.

To use the kit the plurality of tiles can be arranged in the desired shape, the reversibility of the interconnectivity allows for considerable rearrangement before a final shape is decided upon. The concatenated tiles are placed over the site at which the pond is to be positioned and marked out, the assembled border can be removed still interconnected. An appropriate hole can be dug and the pond liner positioned in place in the approved fashion. The assembled border can then either be put into place as a single concatenated unit or

disassembled and individually put into place. Where ground engaging means are provided it might be desired to tamp down the tiles in place. Such an assembled border can thus provide for some overlap over the hole forming the pond as shown in figures 1 to 3.

Referring to figures 4 to 7.

The illustrated embodiment is a plastics moulded tile which consists of an upper web (102) from which depends a skirt (103). The skirt sits on the ground surface and so that the upper web is held spaced therefrom, exhibiting an upper surface on which foot traffic might traverse.

The tile shown in figure 4 is shown upside down for purposes of illustrating the interconnections. The interconnections exhibited by the tile are formed in two parts a first part (105) and a second part 10 (6), which engage with one another to form an interconnection between two adjacent tiles as seen in more detail in figures 5 and 6.

The first part (105) of the interconnection includes an aperture (110) through the flange. A collar (111) extends inwardly from the periphery of the flange so that the aperture provides for a somewhat elongate cylindrical bore. A capturing ledge (115) is formed on a first tab (116) which depends from the upper web of the tile, an aperture proximal surface of the first tab also provides an alignment guide (117). A stop (118) is positioned at an opposing side of a spigot pathway (19) and is spaced apart from the capturing ledge (115). The stop is in the form of a second tab depending from the upper web of the tile.

The second part (106) comprises a spigot extending outwardly from a periphery of the tile.

The spigot is configured to slide through the aperture (110) by having cross sectional dimensions not exceeding those of the aperture. The spigot is elongate with a length some 7 or 8 times the maximum cross sectional dimension. The extent of elongation is significant in terms of providing flexibility of the spigot and capacity for finger manipulation. The spigot includes a proximal, relatively inflexible portion (121) which closely fits inside the aperture

(110), and is complementary in shape therewith. In the illustrated embodiment the inflexible portion is cylindrical in shape and is generally less than lmm away from walls defining the aperture. The spigot is tapered (122) from the inflexible portion to form a flattened portion (123). The flattened portion has approximately the same vertical dimension as the inflexible portion but is flattened from a horizontal perspective so as to have an approximately upright flat profile. The flattened portion thus exhibits flexibility horizontally lateral to the normal position of the spigot. A lateral protrusion (124) extends to one side of the flattened portion of the spigot spaced distal from the inflexible portion. A leading portion of the lateral protrusion is formed at approximately right angles to the spigot to form an engaging face (125) which engages with the capturing ledge (115) The spigot extend past the lateral protrusion to form a finger operable portion (126) of the spigot. The finger operable portion when in an engaged position, as can be seen in Figure 5, extends well clear of any of the first part (105) of the interconnection.

The use of the interconnection then consists of aligning one or more spigots (106) with corresponding one or more apertures (110) inserting the spigots into the apertures, the flexible part of the spigot may be somewhat bent relative to a longitudinal spigot axis (130) which may be drawn through the inflexible portion of the spigot (121). Should that be the case then the tip (131) of the spigot will contact the angled portion of the guide (117) to guide the spigot into the spigot pathway (119), until further insertion causes contact between the lateral protrusion (124) and the guide whereupon the flexible portion of the spigot is forced away from the guide and thus the spigot axis at which point tension is built up in the spigot. Just as the lateral protrusion passes the capturing face (115) which also defines the end of the guide the built up tension causes the spigot the snap into an engaged position with the engaging face (125) of the spigot being caught behind the capturing face (115). It can be seen in figure 5 that there is a relatively close fit between two adjacent tiles once the first and second part of the interconnection are engaged. The drawing is not necessarily to scale and the gap between the adjacent tiles can be quite small and may be in the order of less than lmm. This then limits relative longitudinal movement of two engaged tiles.

Similarly it will be appreciated that the close fit between the inflexible portion of the spigot (121) and the wall defining the generally cylindrical bore provides lateral restraint to movement between two adjacent tiles both horizontally and vertically. That stability is assisted by the provision of two spaced interconnections between two adjacent tiles, which arrangement will be appreciated by inspection of figure 4. The tile shown in Figure 4 is a curved tile describing an eighth of a circle. Other shapes of tiles may also utilise the interconnection described above.

The disconnection of the interconnecting means will typically be undertaken when the concatenation of tiles are in their upright position with the upper web facing upwardly and the interconnection be accessible from below and not visible. Directed finger pressure is exerted on the flattened portion as shown at (135) to flex the flattened portion of the spigot and in particular the engaging surface (125) of the spigot away from the capturing surface (115). The stop (118) is positioned to provide a positive indication that the engaging surface is clear of the capturing surface. The user will thus feel resistance to further flexing, and know that the spigot can be withdrawn through the aperture in the direction shown at (136).

In the case of the tile shown in figure 4, two hands can be used to disengage a respective spigot and to draw two adjacent spigots apart.

A further embodiment envisions a separate spigot portion of the interconnection means as is shown in Figure 7. In place of two diagonally opposed first parts the tile illustrated in Figure 4 has four such arrangement each with an identical aperture, collar, first tab and stop. The second part of the interconnection means includes the spigot structure described above as well as a connection means to engage with one of the apertures. The connection means may be such that the inflexible portion of the spigot is simply elongated for passage through two apertures with an expanded end. To engage the second part is simply passed through two aligned apertures until the expanded end bears against collar, the second part being configured so that when the expanded end is so positioned the engaging face has snapped against the capturing ledge. It will be appreciated that this arrangement is a relatively passive engagement with the aperture. In the alternative an internal groove might be

provided in the aperture and a complementary feature might be provided on the inflexible portion to snap fit into the groove to positively engage the second portion with the aperture.

It might also be desired to provide for a means to enhance ground engagement. This could be provided in the form of fixed spikes or unevennesses on the lower surface of the flange to enhance the engagement with the ground. Provision however of extended spikes for providing for substantial engagement with the ground however requires a quite deep mould to add those features to the tile. It might be preferred to provide for spikes that can be snap fitted to a lower portion of the tile and extend downwardly for ground engagement. These spikes might be snap fitted to the flange, alternatively more positive capture can be achieved where a upwardly facing surface is provided, such as for example on the collar (111).

Alternatively the inflexible portion of the spigot (121) can be extended beyond is present general end coinciding with the end of the collar so that a region of constant cross section is presented for capture of the spikes (as shown in Figure 7).

Various features of the invention have been particularly shown and described in connection with the exemplified embodiment of the invention, however, it must be understood that these particular arrangements merely illustrate and that the invention is not limited thereto and can include various modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.