FLOOR TILE LEVELLING DEVICE

Abstract

A system for the levelling of floor tiles, comprising: a separation post incorporating: a base component, a separator component and a threaded shaft; and a threaded cap with: a hollow dome-shaped body, a lower cylindrical component, an upper hub with a central female thread for the assembly thereof on said threaded shaft, and a number of lateral openings separated by a plurality of ribs with a substantially U-shaped structural cross-section, and comprising:—a smooth external web, with no protruding wings or extensions, of increasing width in a downward direction toward a first lateral end with a curved concave profile,—a first wing and a second wing that extend toward the interior of the cap from lateral ends of the web of the ribs and forming ergonomical surfaces for exerting pressure on the cap in the direction of tightening and loosening of the cap.

Claims

1. A floor tile levelling system; comprising: a separation post including: a base component, a separator component and a threaded shaft extending from an upper portion of said separator component; and a threaded cap including: a hollow body provided with a lower cylindrical component and an upper hub, axially centred with respect to the lower component and centrally having a female thread for assembly of the threaded cap on the threaded shaft of the separation post and tightening of said threaded cap against an upper surface of floor tiles to be levelled; a series of lateral openings, and a plurality of ribs arranged between said lateral openings and extending from the lower cylindrical component to the upper hub, wherein the body of the threaded cap has a curved convex outer surface, which is dome-shaped, defined by the ribs; wherein said ribs have a substantially U-shaped structural cross-section, and comprise: a smooth external web, with no protruding wings or extensions, of increasing width in a downward direction toward a first lateral end with a curved concave profile; a first wing that extends from said first lateral end of the web toward an interior of the threaded cap and forming inside a corresponding opening a first curved concave surface for exerting pressure on the threaded cap in the direction of rotation corresponding to the tightening of said threaded cap on the threaded shaft a second wing that extends from a second lateral end of the web of the rib toward the interior of the threaded cap and forming inside the corresponding opening a substantially vertical surface for exerting pressure on the threaded cap in the direction of rotation corresponding to loosening of the threaded cap on the threaded shaft.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first wing and the second wing of consecutive ribs of the threaded cap are joined by a lower section and by an upper section, projected toward the interior of the hollow body, and which together with said wings form a continuous perimeter frame inside the corresponding opening.

3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising two pairs of ribs regularly distributed on the threaded cap, and perpendicular in pairs, the ribs of each pair being arranged in planes parallel to a corresponding diametral plane (X, Y), displaced in opposite directions with respect to the corresponding diametral plane (X, Y), the first wings of the respective ribs remaining substantially aligned with said diametral plane (X, Y).

4. The system according to claim 2, further comprising two pairs of ribs regularly distributed on the threaded cap, and perpendicular in pairs, the ribs of each pair being arranged in planes parallel to a corresponding diametral plane (X, Y), displaced in opposite directions with respect to the corresponding diametral plane (X, Y), the first wings of the respective ribs remaining substantially aligned with said diametral plane (X, Y).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] As a complement to the description provided herein, and for the purpose of helping to make the features of the invention more readily understandable, the present specification is accompanied by a set of drawings which, by way of illustration and not limitation, represent the following:

[0027] FIG. 1 shows an elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of the floor tile levelling system, according to the invention.

[0028] FIG. 2 shows a top perspective view of the cap of the previous figure.

[0029] FIG. 3 shows a top plan view of the cap.

[0030] FIG. 4 shows an elevation view of the cap, corresponding to the position shown in FIG. 3.

[0031] FIG. 5 shows a plan view of the cap of the previous figures, sectioned along the plane A-A marked in FIG. 4.

[0032] FIG. 6 shows a bottom plan view of the cap of the previous figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] FIG. 1 shows an elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of the floor tile levelling system of the invention, comprising a separation post (10) and a cap (20).

[0034] The separation post (10) comprises a base component (101) intended to be positioned below the floor tiles to be levelled, a separator component (102) that is located between the opposing faces of adjacent floor tiles determining the separation thereof, and a threaded shaft (13) that extends toward the upper area forming means for the threaded assembly of the cap (20), cap which is responsible for establishing the tightening of the floor tiles against the base component (101) so that they are level and have a separation predetermined by the separator component (102).

[0035] As can be seen in FIG. 2, the cap (20) comprises a hollow body with a curved convex outer surface that is dome-shaped, which ends at the bottom in a cylindrical component (201) and which extends at the top in a hub (202) axially centred with respect to the cylindrical component (201).

[0036] Said hub (202) centrally has a female thread (203) for the threaded assembly of the cap (20) on the threaded shaft (103) of the separation post (10), as shown in FIG. 1. The hub (202) has lateral recesses (204) on the outer surface thereof to facilitate gripping the cap during its assembly on the threaded shaft (103) and even impart a turning movement to the cap (20) during the initial threading thereof.

[0037] On the outer surface of the cap (20) a series of lateral openings (205) are defined, laterally separated by ribs (206) arranged between the aforementioned lateral openings (205) and extending from the lower cylindrical component (201) to the upper hub (202).

[0038] The plan view of FIG. 3 shows the distribution of the four lateral openings (205) and of the four ribs (206) arranged perpendicularly in pairs on the surface of the cap (2) more clearly.

[0039] FIG. 5 shows a cross-section of the cap (20) by a horizontal plane referenced as A-A in FIG. 4.

[0040] As can be seen in the aforementioned FIG. 5, the ribs (206) have a substantially U-shaped cross-section formed by an outer web (207) and by a first wing (208) and a second wing (209) that extend respectively from a first lateral end (210) and second lateral end (211) of the web (207) toward the interior of the cap (20).

[0041] The web (207) of the ribs (206) has an increasing width in a downward direction toward the first lateral end (210), which has a curved concave profile, as can be seen more clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4; whereas the second lateral end (211) of the ribs (206) is substantially vertical.

[0042] The first wing (208) extends toward the interior of the cap, maintaining the concave shape of the first lateral end (210) of the corresponding rib (206), said first wing (208) inside the corresponding lateral opening (205) forming a first curved concave surface, ergonomically suitable, to exert pressure on the cap (2) in the direction of rotation corresponding to the tightening of the cap (2) on the threaded shaft (103), by inserting a finger into said lateral opening (205).

[0043] The first wing (208) has a greater length than the second wing (209), since said first wing (208) is the one that receives a greater effort during the threading of the cap (2) on the threaded shaft (103) of the separation post (10) and the pressing of the upper surface of the floor tiles to be levelled with the cylindrical component (201) thereof.

[0044] The second wing (209) extends from the second lateral end (211) of the web (207) of the corresponding ribs (206) toward the interior of the cap (2), forming inside the corresponding lateral opening (205) a substantially vertical surface for exerting pressure on the cap (20) in the direction of rotation for loosening the separation post (10).

[0045] FIGS. 2 and 6 show how the first wing (208) and the second wing (209) of consecutive ribs (206) are joined by a lower section (212) and by an upper section (213) projected toward the interior of the hollow body, and which together with said wings (208, 209) form a continuous perimeter frame inside the corresponding lateral opening (205).

[0046] FIG. 3 shows that each of the pairs of facing ribs (206) are arranged in correspondence with respective planes, parallel to the respective diametral planes (X, Y), and displaced in opposite directions with respect to the corresponding diametral plane (X, Y), with the first wings (208) of the respective ribs (206) remaining substantially aligned with said diametral plane (X, Y), which provides better positioning of the fingers during the turning action of the cap.

[0047] Having sufficiently described the nature of the invention, as well as a preferred exemplary embodiment, it is hereby stated for the relevant purposes that the materials, shape, size and layout of the described elements may be modified, provided that it does not imply altering the essential features of the invention claimed below.