DESCRIPTION

The present patent concerns raised floors and the related supports, and more specifically it concerns a new floor provided with removable coupling devices between the support and the modular tread elements, suited to constrain said tread elements to the supports in the presence of strong wind.

At present, to make raised floors on supporting surfaces in general, first of all conveniently spaced supports are laid, on which the modular plane elements that make up the floor are successively rested.

Supports are known which comprise a body, in turn comprising a base and a cylindrical portion with an extension, if provided, and an upper supporting head suited to support the four comers of two, three or four modular elements placed side by side.

The body is generically cylindrical in shape and its lower part is provided with a widened supporting base, while the upper head, which rests on said body, is plane, orthogonal or inclinable with respect to the cylindrical portion, and suited to support the modular elements of the raised floor.

Bodies are known whose upper part is provided with a concave seat housing a head with a spherical lower surface and a plane upper surface. Each comer of the modular panels that make up the raised floor rests on said horizontal plane surfaces, which are at different heights with respect to one another, in order to compensate for the different inclination between the supporting surface, which is generally inclined in order to allow rainwater to be drained off, and the horizontal raised floor.

Bodies are known which comprise a base element and a height adjusting element with a corresponding head on which the upper panels of the raised floor rest, said height adjusting element being suited to be coupled with said base element and adjusted in height with respect to it. Supports that cannot be adjusted in height are known, in which the body and the head constitute a single element.

Bodies are also known which comprise a supporting base element, and an intermediate element for height adjustment and an upper element on which the upper panels of the raised floor can be rested, wherein the height of said upper panels can be adjusted by means of threads.

In all the cases mentioned above the head, or the upper plane part of the upper element supporting the panels, is provided with vertical partitions, usually four, which are orthogonal to said upper plane part and arranged radially, according to the axes x, y, towards the centre of the circular shape defined by said upper supporting element.

The panels that make up the raised floor are rested on said heads or upper supporting elements, with each comer of said panels resting on the four, or two, or three plane upper surfaces of said head of an upper supporting element, each included between two adjacent vertical partitions orthogonal to each other.

Said panels of the floor are simply rested on said supports, so that their weight provides for ensuring stability overtime.

This solution cannot be adopted in the situations in which there is the risk of strong winds, since the wind may give origin to a pressure, contrary to the force of gravity, which can act on the modular elements of the floor to the point of lifting the elements themselves, which will consequently fall on the ground creating an extremely dangerous situation for things and people.

In order to overcome all the drawbacks mentioned above, a new support for raised floors with a wind resistant coupling head has been designed and constructed.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a modular raised floor in which said modular elements are constrained to the supports in such a way as to resist the wind force that in extreme situations may cause them to come off and consequently fall on the ground, which is quite dangerous.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a fixing device that is not visible.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a constraining device that is easy to apply and to remove, in order to allow one or more modular elements to be lifted and the underlying space to be accessed.

These and other direct and complementary objects are achieved by the new support for floors, which is made of a plastic material and comprises a head for supporting the elements that make up the floor, said supporting head being provided with orthogonal partitions on which coupling devices preferably made of metal, more simply called clips, are applied, and wherein said clips are suited to stably constrain the elements that make up the floor to said orthogonal partitions and thus to the supporting head which in turn is constrained to the underlying body, and wherein the thickness of said clips exceeds 0.4 mm and is more preferably included between 0.4 and 1.6 mm, in such a way as to guarantee sufficient mechanical resistance.

The new supporting head comprises four vertical partitions arranged in pairs according to the orthogonal axes x, y, defining the four areas where the comers of the modular elements of the floor will rest. The thickness of said partitions determines the width of the grooves or joints between the modular elements that make up the floor.

According to the invention, a coupling clip is inserted at the level of each of said partitions to provide the constraint between said partitions and the modular elements of the floor. More specifically, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention, said clip has the generic shape of a U with two upper side tabs. Said clip is inserted under the partition with its lower base, wherein said partition is thinner at the point of insertion of the clip, so that after the insertion of the clip the corresponding side walls will be aligned with the external surfaces of the partition itself. In this way, the width of the grooves between the modular plane elements will not be modified and the clip can slide and be easily inserted in the partition by making it pass between two modular elements of the floor, even already positioned.

According to the invention, a series of pairs of notches is made, which for example is obtained through a milling or pressing operation during production or through the coupling of two or more plane elements achieved by gluing them to the four edges or side walls of the modular element of the floor in proximity to the comers.

In this way, four or more slits or cuts, two per comer, will be obtained for each element of the floor, wherein said notches are suitable for the insertion of the tabs of said clips in the shape of an overturned U bolt, which will constrain the modular elements of the floor to each partition of the supporting head.

According to the invention, said clips can have one or two upper tabs.

According to the invention, the supporting head is of the tilting type, in such a way as to compensate for the inclination of a supporting surface with a different angle with respect to the horizontal plane of the floor. According to the invention, at the points where the comers of the modular elements of the floor rest, the supporting head is provided with harmonization elements made of a softer material than that with which the head is made.

According to the invention, the body under the head is of the type with adjustable height.

The clip is provided with one or more upper notches, so that using a normal tool, for example a screwdriver or another device, it is possible to make it slide into the slits obtained in the modular element of the floor, so that it consequently comes to be positioned with its lower part under the terminal part of the corresponding partition, whose front part will be provided with a portion projecting towards the centre.

Said clip is generically configured with two upper tabs facing towards the outside, and each tab will be inserted in said slits or cuts preferably obtained at the mid of the thickness of the modular element of the floor.

Two, or preferably all the partitions present on the head are provided with a portion that projects towards the centre, said projecting portion being thinner than the partition itself and not adhering to the supporting base with its lower part, so that it is possible to insert said clip, whose side walls will be aligned with the side walls of the partition itself, while the lower part of the clip will be inserted under said projecting portion. The upper tabs are inserted in the notches or in the slits obtained through a milling operation; in this manner, each modular element of the floor will be constrained to the head, which in turn is constrained to the underlying body.

According to the invention, in order to carry out the insertion operation that makes it possible to obtain said locking effect, one or two modular elements of the floor are first rested on the head and said clip is inserted with a translation movement, wherein said clip constrains said modular elements as they are positioned through the translation of said clips.

By using a simple screwdriver, it is possible to move the clips horizontally thanks to a notch or cut preferably made on their upper part. A similar operation can be performed in the case where it is necessary to remove one or more elements in order to carry out maintenance operations or clean the supporting plane. Thus, it is sufficient to insert a screwdriver in the slit and to translate the corresponding clips towards the centre by acting on said notch, successively lifting the element of the floor. The characteristics of the new wind resistant support will be better highlighted in the following description of a practical embodiment of the invention, with reference to the drawings that are attached hereto by way of non-limiting example.

Figure la shows a side view of a raised floor, comprising the modular elements (P) of the floor, the supporting head (T) and the body (S) that in this case is adjustable in height. Figure lb shows a top view of the raised floor, comprising said modular elements of the floor (P), where the supporting heads (T) are delimited by a broken line. Said modular elements are square in shape and spaced from one another, thus creating a slit whose width is equal to the thickness of the orthogonal partitions (O). Figure 2a shows a detailed view of the new clip (C) comprising a lower part (Cl) for connection between two vertical walls (CV), two tabs (CA) oriented towards the outside and positioned in the top part of said vertical walls (CV), the whole generically forming a U.

According to other solutions, shown in Figures 2b and 2c, said clip (C) is provided with one tab (CA) only. On the upper part of the clip (C) there are two slits or seats or cuts (CF) suitable for the insertion of the tool (U) for the translation of the clip (C) during the insertion and the extraction of the clip itself. According to the invention, there is a further lower tab (CL) suited to be positioned so that it adheres to the bottom of the modular plane element (P).

Figures 3a and 3b show a detail of the supporting head (T) provided with four orthogonal partitions (O), each of them in turn comprising a projecting portion (OS) oriented towards the centre, and wherein said projecting portion (OS) is thinner than the orthogonal partition (O), so that it is suitable for the insertion of said clip (C) in such a way that the outer surface of its vertical walls (CV) is aligned with the vertical walls of the orthogonal partition (O) in order not to modify the width of the groove or joint between two elements of the floor (P). The substantially horizontal lower part (Cl) of the clip (C) will come to be positioned under said projecting portion (OS), which will prevent it from being lifted in case of a strong wind.

The clip with a single tab can also be inserted both from the inside, as described above, and from the outside of the head towards the inside, while at the same time the corresponding partition (O) will be provided with said projecting portion (OS) oriented towards the outside and towards the centre of the head.

Figure 4 shows the combination of the new support with the body (S) and the head (T) on it, wherein said head (T) is provided with four partitions (O) arranged orthogonally on the axes x, y, each provided with a projecting portion (OS) that, after the application of the clip (C), will be inserted in the U-shaped part of the corresponding clip (C) provided with one or two tabs (CA). Figure 5 shows a step of the floor assembly process, wherein the modular element (P) of the floor is provided with two slits or cuts (I) placed at the level of the comers, and wherein the upper tabs (CA) of said clips (C) can slide and be definitively positioned in said slits (I).

Figures 6a and 6b show two sectional views of the new support for raised floors provided with a body (S) and a wind resistant coupling head (T), comprising said body (S), a head (T) provided with partitions (O) in turn provided with a projecting portion (OS), the U-shaped clip (C) provided with tabs (CA) oriented towards the outside and inserted in the slits (I) obtained in the side edges of the modular elements of the floor (P), at least at the level of the comers.

Figure 7 shows the raised floor comprising two modular elements (R', P").

Figure 8 shows a further stage, with four modular elements (P) of the floor. It is possible to observe how a tool (U) can be easily inserted in the grooves or joints obtained between two elements (P). Acting on the slits (CF), it is possible to translate said clips (C) from a constraint position to a release position and vice versa.

Always in Figure 8, it is possible to observe how the floor is assembled and correspondingly disassembled, wherein, for each head (T), all the clips (C) necessary for the four modular elements (P) must be inserted before positioning the last element. Said clips (C) can be translated, by means of the tool (U), from a first position (C) to a second position (C"). Once two clips (C) have been inserted in the first position (C) and aligned with the corresponding sides of a modular element (P) of the floor, it is possible to translate them to the second position (C") in order to constrain the other elements (P) of the floor that rest on the same head (T).

Figure 9 shows a sectional view of a variant embodiment, according to which said upper tabs (CA) of the U-shaped clips (C) are placed on the upper surface (PS) of the modular element (P), in proximity to the edges.

Figures 10, 10a show a solution according to a which a substantially plane clip (C) is provided, whose edges or side tabs (CA) are suited to be inserted in said notches (I) of the modular elements (P) of the floor. Figure 10a shows said clip, whose centre part is in turn suited to be inserted in a slit (OF) obtained in said partition (O). Also said substantially plane clip is provided with the slit (CF, CF'), placed at the centre or at the head thereof, for the insertion of the tool (U) to be used for its translation.

Figure 11 shows a sectional view of a further clip which, in addition to the side tabs (CA), has also one or more lower tabs (CL) intended to improve the mutual constraint between the modular element (P) and the partition (O).

Figures 12a, 12b, 12c show a variant embodiment of the orthogonal partitions (O'), according to which said projecting portion (OS') is directed towards the outside and is suitable for the insertion of the clips (C) provided with a single side tab (CA).

It is easy to understand that the same operation carried out in the reverse order makes it possible to release all the comers of an element, thus allowing it to be lifted.

The cuts (I) in the edges of the plane modular elements of the floor can be obtained through a moulding or milling or cutting operation carried out on the four side surfaces at least in proximity to the comers or said element can be obtained by gluing two superimposed elements together, using a layer of glue whose thickness is sufficient for the insertion of said tabs (CA) of the clips (C).

The support can be fixed to the floor laying surface by means of a gluing or mechanical fixing operation.

Therefore, with reference to the preceding description and the attached drawings, the following claims are expressed.