Tile fixing device and method for disassembling tile fixed by the same

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a technical filed of mounting a tile, and discloses a tile fixing device and a method for disassembling the tile fixed by the same. The tile fixing device includes: a slider, at least a portion of the slider being disposed below the tile; a connector, at least a portion of the connector being disposed above the tile and the connector being coupled to the slider so as to hold the tile between the at least a portion of the connector and the at least a portion of the slider; and a fixing beam configured to be fixed on the building, and the slider being hung on the fixing beam so as to fix the tile on the building. In the tile fixing device, the fixing beam comprises a sliding groove extending in a direction at a certain angle to a longitudinal direction of the fixing beam and running through the fixing beam, the certain angle is greater than 0 degree and less than 180 degrees, the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam extends in a horizontal direction, and the slider is configured to be rotated such that the slider can slide along the sliding groove and slide out of the sliding groove so as to detach the slider from the fixing beam and remove the tile. The present disclosure has the advantages of easy disassembly and easy maintenance.

Claims

1. A tile fixing device for fixing a tile to a building, the tile fixing device comprising: a slider, at least a portion of the slider being disposed below the tile; a connector, at least a portion of the connector being disposed above the tile, and the connector being coupled to the slider so as to hold the tile between the at least a portion of the connector and the at least a portion of the slider; and a fixing beam configured to be fixed on the building, and the slider being hung on the fixing beam so as to fix the tile on the building; wherein the fixing beam comprises a sliding groove extending in a direction at a certain angle to a longitudinal direction of the fixing beam and running through the fixing beam, the certain angle is greater than 0 degree and less than 180 degrees, the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam extends in a horizontal direction, and the slider is configured to be rotated such that the slider can slide along the sliding groove and slide out of the sliding groove so as to detach the slider from the fixing beam and remove the tile.

2. The tile fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the connector comprises a rotation driving part configured to be rotated so as to rotate the slider.

3. The tile fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the connector is detachably connected to the slider.

4. The tile fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the slider comprises a vertical body extending along a longitudinal direction of the slider and at least one flange protruding laterally from the vertical body, the fixing beam further comprises at least one recess configured to mate with the at least one flange and extend in the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam, and the tile is hung on the fixing beam by means of mating between the at least one flange of the slider and the at least one recess of the fixing beam.

5. The tile fixing device according to claim 4, wherein a length of the vertical body of the slider in the longitudinal direction of the slider is greater than a width of the sliding groove in a direction perpendicular to a sliding-out direction.

6. The tile fixing device according to claim 4, wherein when the slider is rotated by the certain angle from a position where the flange and the recess mate with each other, the flange of the slider mates with the sliding groove so as to be able to slide in the sliding groove and slide out of the sliding groove.

7. The tile fixing device according to claim 4, wherein the sliding groove is in communication with the at least one recess.

8. The tile fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the certain angle is 90 degrees, and a sliding-out direction of the slider is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam.

9. (canceled)

10. The tile fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the connector further comprises a plug part, the slider comprises a receptacle part for receiving the plug part, and the plug part and the receptacle part each have a cross-section of polygonal shape.

11. The tile fixing device according to claim 1, wherein the fixing beam is made of wood, aluminum alloy or steel.

12. A method for disassembling a tile fixed by the tile fixing device according to claim 1, comprising: rotating the connector such that the slider is driven to rotate to a position where the slider mates with the sliding groove and is capable of sliding in the sliding groove, so as to slide the slider out of the sliding groove and remove the tile from the fixing beam.

13. The method for disassembling a tile fixed by the tile fixing device according to claim 12, further comprising pushing the tile to detach the slider from the fixing beam before rotating the connector.

14. The method of disassembling a tile fixed by the tile fixing device according to claim 13, wherein the tile is pushed towards a position opposite to the sliding groove.

15. The tile fixing device according to claim 10, wherein the connector further comprises a body part, the plug part is securely connected to a lower end of the body part; and the rotation driving part is securely disposed on the body part.

16. A tile fixing device for fixing a tile to a building, comprising: a slider, at least a portion of the slider being disposed below the tile; a connector, at least a portion of the connector being disposed above the tile and the connector being coupled to the slider so as to hold the tile between the at least a portion of the connector and the at least a portion of the slider; and a fixing beam configured to be fixed on the building, and the slider being hung on the fixing beam so as to fix the tile on the building; wherein the fixing beam is provided with a sliding groove, when the tile is hung on the fixing beam, the slider is located at a position opposed to the sliding groove so as to press against the sliding groove, and the slider is configured to be rotated such that the slider can slide along the sliding groove and slide out of the sliding groove so as to detach the slider from the fixing beam and remove the tile.

17. The tile fixing device according to claim 16, wherein the connector comprises a rotation driving part configured to be rotated so as to rotate the slider.

18. The tile fixing device according to claim 16, wherein the slider comprises a vertical body extending along a longitudinal direction of the slider and at least one flange protruding laterally from the vertical body, the fixing beam further comprises at least one recess configured to mate with the at least one flange and extend in the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam, and the tile is hung on the fixing beam by means of mating between the at least one flange of the slider and the at least one recess of the fixing beam.

19. The tile fixing device according to claim 18, wherein a length of the vertical body of the slider in the longitudinal direction of the slider is greater than a width of the sliding groove in a direction perpendicular to a sliding-out direction.

20. The tile fixing device according to claim 17, wherein the connector further comprises a plug part and a body part, the plug part is securely connected to a lower end of the body part; and the rotation driving part is securely disposed on the body part; the slider comprises a receptacle part for receiving the plug part, and the plug part and the receptacle part each have a cross-section of polygonal shape.

21. A method for disassembling a tile fixed by the tile fixing device according to claim 16, comprising: rotating the connector such that the slider is driven to rotate to a position where the slider mates with the sliding groove and is capable of sliding in the sliding groove, so as to slide the slider out of the sliding groove and remove the tile from the fixing beam.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] FIG. 1 is a perspective view when a tile is mounted on a roof according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0033] FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of a tile fixing device mounted on a building according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0034] FIG. 2B is an enlarged schematic view of portion A in FIG. 2A;

[0035] FIG. 3A is a side perspective view of a tile fixed by a tile fixing device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] FIG. 3B is an enlarged schematic view of portion B of FIG. 3A;

[0037] FIG. 4A is a bottom perspective view of a tile fixed by a tile fixing device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0038] FIG. 4B is an enlarged schematic view of portion C of FIG. 4A;

[0039] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the connection between the connector and the slider according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0040] FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of a fixing beam according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0041] FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a fixing beam according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] Reference numbers throughout the drawings are listed as follows:

TABLE-US-00001 tile 1 connector 2 rotation driving part 21 plug part 22 body part 23 through-hole of the plug part 221 slider 3 flange 31 vertical body 33 receptacle part 32 through-hole of the receptacle part 321 fixing beam 4 sliding groove 41 recess 42 tile fixing device 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0043] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present disclosure clearer, the embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, one of ordinary skill in the art may understand that, in various embodiments of the present disclosure, many technical details are set forth in order to provide the reader with a better understanding of the present application. However, the technical solutions claimed in the present application may be implemented without these technical details and according to various changes and modifications based on the following embodiments.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4B, the present disclosure provides a tile fixing device 5 for fixing the tile 1 to a building, the tile fixing device 5 comprising: a slider 3, at least a portion of the slider 3 being disposed below the tile 1; a connector 2, at least a portion of the connector 2 being disposed above the tile 1, and the connector 2 being connected to the slider 3 so as to hold the tile 1 between the at least a portion of the connector 2 and the at least a portion of the slider 3; and a fixing beam 4 configured to be fixed on the building (not shown), and the slider 3 being hung on the fixing beam 4 so as to fix the tile 1 on the building. The fixing beam 4 is preferably fixed on a sloping surface of the building, for example on the roof of a house. The tile 1 is fixed to the building by this tile fixing device 5, that is to say, the tile 1 is fixed to be parallel to the slopping surface of the building. The tile 1 is hung on the fixing beam 4 by the slider 3 connected to the tile 1, so that the tile 1 may be naturally hung securely on the fixing beam 4 under the force of gravity. In the tile fixing device 5 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, in order to facilitate removal of the tile 1 from the fixing beam 4, the fixing beam 4 is provided with a sliding groove 41 extending in a direction at a certain angle to a longitudinal direction of the fixing beam 4 and running through the fixing beam 4, and the certain angle is greater than 0 degree and less than 180 degrees, and moreover, the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam 4 extends in a horizontal direction. The slider 3 is configured to be rotated such that the slider 3 can slide along the sliding groove 41 and slide out of the sliding groove 41 so as to detach the slider 3 from the fixing beam 4 and remove the tile 1. As shown in FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the fixing beam 4 is fixed to the roof with its longitudinal direction being parallel to the horizontal direction, so that the slider 3 may be securely hung on the fixing beam 4 under gravity and may not slide in the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam 4. In addition, the fixing beam 4 is provided with the sliding groove 41 extending in a direction at the certain angle to the longitudinal direction (i.e. horizontal direction) of the fixing beam 4, and by setting this angle to be not 0 degree or 180 degrees, the sliding groove 41 is not parallel to the horizontal direction. Therefore, when the tile 1 is slid out of the sliding groove 41, by means of gravity, the tile 1 may smoothly slide downwards in the sliding groove 41, thereby saving labor costs. In addition, by arranging the slider 3 to be able to rotate to slide along the sliding groove 41, in order to slide the slider 3 out of the sliding groove 41 and accordingly remove the tile 1, it is not necessary to lift up the tile 1 laboriously, but it only needs to rotate the slider 3 when removing the tile 1.

[0045] The tile 1 is, for example, a photovoltaic tile. However, in the present disclosure, the tile 1 is not limited to a photovoltaic tile, a portion of which used for generating electricity is a crystalline silicon solar module or a flexible solar module.

[0046] In an embodiment according to the present disclosure, the connector 2 is detachably connected to the slider. As shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 5, the connector 2 includes a body part 23 which is a body part in the form of a pillar extending from a position above the tile 1 and through the tile 1; and a plug part 22 fixed to a lower end of the body part 23. The cross section of the plug part 22 is of polygonal shape such as a rectangle, a square and the like. Correspondingly, the slider 3 comprises a receptacle part 32 for receiving the plug part 22 and having a shape that matches the shape of the plug part 22. In addition, a through-hole 221 is disposed on the plug part 22, and two corresponding through holes 321 are also formed in two sidewalls of the receptacle part 32 opposite to the plug part 22. Fastener (not shown), such as pins or bolts, may pass through the through-holes 321 and 221 such that the connector 2 is connected to the slider 3 and may not be removed from the slider 3. When disassembling, the fastener described above may be removed from through-holes 321 and 221 first, and the plug part 22 may then be pulled out of the receptacle part 32.

[0047] In another embodiment, the above-described through-holes 321 and 221 may not be provided. Alternatively, the connector 2 includes a threaded hole extending through the body part 23 and the plug part 22, and the slider 3 also includes a threaded hole provided therein. In addition, the connector 2 also includes threaded fastener that mate to the threaded holes described above to connect the connector 2 to the slider 3. When disassembling, the fastener may be unscrewed to allow slider 3 and connector 2 to disengage from each other.

[0048] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 5, the connector 2 further includes a rotation driving part 21 configured to rotate the slider 3 by rotating the rotation driving part 21. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 5, the rotation driving part 21, in the form of handle, is preferably fixedly disposed on the at least a portion of the connector 2 above the tile 1, more preferably fixedly disposed on a portion of the body part 23 above the tile 1. By rotating the rotation driving part 21, the plug part 22 may be driven to rotate. By the mating of the plug part 22 and the receptacle part 32, the slider 3 may be driven to rotate together.

[0049] In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the rotation driving part may be a rotation groove (not shown) formed on an upper surface of the body part 23. The slider 3 may be rotated either electrically or manually by using other tools, such as electric drills or screwdrivers.

[0050] It should be noted that although the above description only describes two types of rotation driving part, such as in the form of a handle or a rotation groove, those skilled in the art may envisage other known rotation driving parts such as a torsion spring provided on the connector or the slider. When the torsion spring is triggered, it may bring the slider to rotate. The above-mentioned rotation driving means should fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0051] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 5, the slider 3 includes a vertical body 33 extending along a longitudinal direction of the slider 3 and at least one flange 31 protruding laterally from the vertical body 33. Preferably, the flange 31 extends in a direction perpendicular to the vertical body 33. The fixing beam 4 further comprises at least one recess 42 configured to mate with the at least one flange 31 and extend in the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam 4. The tile 1 is hung on the fixing beam 4 by means of mating between the at least one flange 31 of the slider 3 and the at least one recess 42 of the fixing beam 4. In one embodiment according to the present disclosure, it is preferable that the number of the flanges 31 is two, each of which protrudes laterally on one side of the vertical body 33. It is preferable for the flange 31 to protrude laterally from the bottom of the vertical body 33 for the reason which will be described in detail later. In addition, those skilled in the art should understand that, in order to enable the slider 3 to slide in the sliding groove 41, the maximum width in the protruding direction of the flange 31 should be equal to or smaller than the width of the sliding groove 41. Preferably, the extension length of the flange 31 in the longitudinal direction of the slide 3 is equal to the length of the vertical body 33, as shown in FIG. 5.

[0052] As shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, 4A and 4B, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, a length of the vertical body 33 of the slider 3 in the longitudinal direction of the slider 3 is greater than a width of the sliding groove 41 in a direction perpendicular to a sliding-out direction in which the slider 3 slides out of sliding groove 41. When the tile 1 is hung on the fixing beam 4, the slider 3 is preferably located at a position opposite to the sliding groove 41, so that when it is necessary to remove the tile 1, the tile 1 does not need to be relocated to a position opposite to the sliding groove 41, so that the through-holes on the tile 1 corresponds to the position of the sliding grooves 41 on the fixing beam 4 when manufacturing the tile 1. At this time, since the length of the body 33 is larger than the width of the sliding groove 41, the body 33 is pressed against a side of the sliding groove 41 under the gravity of the tile 1 and may not slide out from the sliding groove 41 of the fixing beam 4, thereby achieving the effect of fixing the tilel. When it is necessary to remove the tile 1, the slider 3 may be rotated by rotating the rotation driving part 21 so that the flange 31 is located in the sliding groove 41, and the slider 3 may be slid out of the sliding groove 41so as to remove the tile 1.

[0053] In a preferred embodiment according to the present disclosure, as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, 6 and 7, the sliding groove 41 is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam 4. In this case, the slide-out direction of the slider 3 is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam 4. Therefore, the flange 31 of the slider 3 mates with the sliding groove 41 after the slider 3 is rotated by 90 degrees from the position where the flange 31 and the recess 42 mate with each other, so that the slide 3 may slide in the sliding groove 41 and be slid out of the sliding groove 41. With the sliding groove 41 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam 4, when the slider 3 is rotated such that the flange 31 mates with the sliding groove 41, by making full use of the gravity, the slider 3 may be smoothly slid out of sliding groove 41 in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction and parallel to the slopping surface of the building. In addition, the 90-degree angle is easier to be recognized in the case of manual operation, thereby facilitating operator's operation.

[0054] In an embodiment according to the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of sliding grooves 41 are provided on the fixing beam 4 at equal intervals, and the recess 42 extends in the longitudinal direction of the fixing beam 4 and is formed as a whole elongate recess, which is in communication with each sliding groove 41 provided on the fixing beam 4. Preferably, the fixing beam is made of wood, aluminum alloy or steel. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that in order to facilitating the entrance of the slider 3 to the sliding groove 41, a bottom of the sliding groove 41 is flush with an inner surface of the recess 42 so that before the slider 3 enters the sliding groove 41, the inner surface of the recess 42 may function as a flat guide surface.

[0055] In another embodiment according to the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of recesses 42 that are not in communication with each other are provided on the fixing beam 4 in the longitudinal direction thereof, and each recess 42 is only in communication with a corresponding one of the sliding grooves 41.

[0056] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for disassembling the tile 1 fixed by the above-described tile fixing device 5 is provided. The disassembling method includes the following step: rotating the connector 2 such that the slider 3 is driven to rotate to a position where the slider 3 mates with the sliding groove 41 and is capable of sliding in the sliding groove 41, so as to slide the slider 3 out of the sliding groove 41 and remove the tile 1 from the fixing beam 4.

[0057] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the above mentioned method further comprises the step of pushing the tile 1, in a direction parallel to the slopping surface of the building, to detach the slider 3 from the fixing beam 4 before rotating the connector 2. Here, the reason why the tile needs to be pushed is as follows: When the slider 3 is hung on the fixing beam 4, the vertical body 33 of the slider 3 is pressed against the side of the sliding groove 41, so that in this state, due to the block of the fixing beam 4, it is difficult to rotate the slider 3, and it is necessary to push the slider 3 off the fixing beam 4 first. Since the tile 1 itself is supported on the fixing beam 4, when the tile 1 is pushed upwards in parallel with the building's slopping surface, the tile 1 is smoothly pushed upward without significant displacement in a direction perpendicular to the slopping surface, thereby facilitating the pushing operation and producing no significant vibration on the tile 1. In addition, the flange 31 of the slider 3 preferably protrudes laterally from the bottom of the vertical body 31, and in this preferred embodiment, after the slider 3 is pushed away from the fixing beam 4 and after the slider 3 is rotated into alignment with the sliding groove 41, it is possible to slide the flange 31 directly into the sliding groove 41 without any block by smoothly sliding the tile 1 downwards, without additional adjustment of the position of the flange 31 with respect to the sliding groove 41 in a direction perpendicular to the roof, since the flange 31 is flush with the bottom of the vertical body 31 and there is no significant displacement of the tile 1 in the direction perpendicular to the roof during pushing.

[0058] In addition, in the disassembling method according to the present disclosure, since the tile adjacent to the tile to be removed generally rests directly on the tile to be removed, when the tile 1 to be removed is pushed upward, it is necessary to slightly lift up the tile adjacent to the tile 1 to be removed so that the tile 1 may be pushed upward to some extent. However, those skilled in the art will also recognize that it is also feasible not to lift up the tile adjacent to the damaged tile. Then, the slider 3 is rotated so that its flange 31 may be slid into the sliding groove 41, and the slider 3 is then smoothly slid out of the sliding groove 41 by the force of gravity so as to remove the tile 1. Therefore, in this disassembling method, in order to remove the damaged tile 1 from the fixing beam 4, all one has to do is to simply push the tile 1 upward, rotate the connector 2 and slide the tile 1 downward smoothly.

[0059] An embodiment of the method of the present disclosure is described as follows:

[0060] To replace one of the damaged tile 1, the tile 1 can be removed from the fixing beam 4, by simply pushing the tile 1 obliquely upwards, rotating the slider 3 by a certain angle by the rotation driving part 21 (the angle is preferably 90 degrees), pulling the tile 1 obliquely downwards, and then raising the tile 1 on the left side thereof, for example, when about three-fourths area of the tile 1 has been pulled out. By means of the present disclosure, it is quite easy to perform the maintenance and replacement of the tile 1.

[0061] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the embodiments disclosed in the drawings are intended to illustrate the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, and should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure.

[0062] While some embodiments according to the general concept of the present disclosure have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes to these embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the general inventive concept. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims and their equivalents.