CUSTOMIZABLE TILE FOR MODULAR PLATFORM SYSTEM, MODULAR PLATFORM SYSTEM WITH CUSTOMIZABLE TILE, AND METHOD OF PLATFORM MAKING

Abstract

A customizable tile is configured for use with a modular platform system that uses tiles, beams supporting the tiles, and legs supporting the beams. The customizable tiles include a tile sizing structure on an underside thereof. The tile sizing structure includes channels and cutting slots extending in different directions so that the channels and cutting slots intersect. The cutting slots act as a guide to cut the tile to alter its width and/or length so that the tile has a customized size for use in the modular platform system. The channels are configured to receive a support board, if necessary, to provide support for the tile on the beams once the tile is cut to size. The channels can also connect to the beams for tile support if need be.

Claims

1. A customizable sized tile comprising: a top portion and a tile periphery, the tile periphery including peripheral members, a tile size adjusting structure extending from an underside of the top portion, a periphery of tile size adjusting structure and the peripheral members forming a peripheral slot inward of the peripheral members; the tile size adjusting structure further comprising a plurality of channels extending in first and second directions, and a plurality of cutting slots also extending in the first and second directions, the channels and cutting slots extending in the first direction intersecting with the channels and cutting slots extending in the second direction; for channels and cutting slots extending in the same direction, each channel is positioned between a pair of cutting slots, cutting along one or more of the cutting slots allowing the dimension of the tile to be reduced.

2. The tile of claim 1, wherein the tile is made of a polymeric material.

3. The tile of claim 1, wherein each channel is formed by opposing discontinuous walls, each discontinuous wall having spaces to accommodate intersecting channels and intersecting cutting slots.

4. The tile of claim 3, wherein each cutting slot is formed by one of the opposing discontinuous walls for each channel and a second discontinuous wall, the second discontinuous wall formed by wall segments of the opposing discontinuous walls forming channels intersecting the cutting slot.

5. The tile of claim 1, wherein corners of the periphery of the tile size adjusting structure includes l-shaped wall segments.

6. The tile of claim 1, wherein the top portion has a plurality of openings therethrough.

7. The tile of claim 1, wherein the top portion has a closed top surface with no openings therethrough.

8. The tile of claim 6, wherein surface portions of the top portion include protrusions for traction.

9. The tile of claim 7, wherein the closed top surface has raised or recessed portions to provide traction.

10. A tile assembly comprising the customizable tile of claim 1 and at least one support board, the at least one support board sized to fit into one of the channels.

11. The assembly of claim 10, wherein the at least one support board is cuttable so that the at least one support board that can fit into a channel whose length is changed by cutting of the tile along one of the cutting slots thereof.

12. In a modular platform system comprising tiles, beams, and legs, wherein the tiles are supported by the beams and the beams are supported by the legs, the improvement comprising at least one of the customizable tiles of claim 1.

13. The modular platform system of claim 12, further comprising and at least one support board, the at least one support board sized to fit into one of the channels.

14. In a method of creating a modular platform system at an on-site location, wherein tiles are attached to beams at the on-site location site and the beams are attached to legs at the on-site location, the improvement comprising providing at least one of the customizable tiles of claim 1, and cutting the at least customizable tile at the on-site location for fitting on at least two beams.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one support board is provided, the support board sized to fit into one of the channels, and the at least one support board is positioned in one of the channels after the tile is cut.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one support board is also cut to a predetermined size before being positioned in the channel of the cut customizable tile.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a prior art modular platform system in perspective view.

[0038] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the kind of tile used in the platform system of FIG. 1.

[0039] FIG. 3 shows an enlarged portion of a periphery of the tile of FIG. 2.

[0040] FIGS. 4a and 4b shows views of the beam used in the platform system of FIG. 1.

[0041] FIG. 5 shows a front view of a connection of two tiles and a beam from the platform system of FIG. 1.

[0042] FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the top side of one embodiment of the inventive tile, with openings in the top portion of the tile.

[0043] FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the top side of another embodiment of the inventive tile, with top portion of the tile being closed and relatively smooth surfaced.

[0044] FIG. 8 shows an underside perspective view of the tile of FIG. 6.

[0045] FIG. 9 shows a schematic representation of the underside of the tile of FIG. 6.

[0046] FIG. 10 shows a view along the line X-X of FIG. 9.

[0047] FIG. 11 shows a view along the line XI-XI of FIG. 9.

[0048] FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of a support board for use with the tile of FIG. 6.

[0049] FIG. 13 shows an underside perspective view of the tile of FIG. 6 with a pair of support boards attached thereto.

[0050] FIG. 14 shows another schematic representation of the underside of the tile of FIG. 6, with a different sizing arrangement as compared to that described in connection with FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0051] FIG. 6 shows one embodiment of the inventive tile in top perspective view. The tile is designated by the reference numeral 50 and includes peripheral members 51 that form a tile periphery and a slot 53 disposed along an inner face of each peripheral members 51. The members 51 and slot 53 function in the similar manner as the peripheral member 29 and slot 27 shown in FIG. 3 of the platform system described above. That is, the peripheral member 51 is configured to fit within a slot like the slot 37 of the beam 3 of FIG. 4B.

[0052] The tile 50 is shown with an open top configuration, wherein a top portion of the tile has a series of openings 55 that allow debris, water, and the like to drop through the tile 50 and not accumulate on a surface thereof. The solid portions of the top portion surrounding or adjacent to the openings 55 are shown with a protrusion 57 to improve traction when a user is walking on the tile. Of course, other configurations can be used for the solid portions of the top portion.

[0053] FIG. 7 shows an alternative tile configuration to tile 50, designated as 50. The tile 50 has a solid top portion 59 with intersecting slots 61 in the top portion 59 for traction purposes. While slots are shown, which are recessed portions in a top surface of the top portion, protrusions or raised portions can also be employed for traction purposes. Further, raised and recessed portions can be combined for traction purposes as well. These traction options could also apply to top surface portions of the tile 50 has openings therethrough.

[0054] FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the underside of the tile 50. As will be described in more detail below, the underside of the tile has tile sizing structure extending from the top portion 59 that creates a number of channels and cutting slots. The channels and the cutting slots both run longitudinally in an x direction and transversely in a y direction so as to be intersecting with each other. That is, the channels and cutting slots that run in a first direction, e.g., an x-direction, intersect with channels and cutting slots that run in a second direction, e.g., perpendicular to the first direction, a y-direction.

[0055] The tile 50 also includes a tile sizing structure is designated by reference numeral 54. This tile sizing structure also includes its own periphery that forms one of the faces of the slot 53. This peripheral face is described in more detail below in connection with FIG. 11.

[0056] The cutting slots are used to customize the size of the tile to fit in a given modular platform system. More particularly, the cutting slots provide a guide so that the tile can be cut either longitudinally (x direction), transversely (y direction) or in both x and y directions, the number of cuts and placement thereof dependent on the final customizable size of the tile.

[0057] The channels are sized to accommodate members to provide support along the length or width of the tile once is customized in size. The channels can also function to attach to a beam of a platform system and this functionality is described in more detail below.

[0058] The intersecting nature of both the channels and the cutting slots allows the tile to be cut in a number of different configurations for optimum flexibility in determining a final width and length of the tile when customized in size and still provide the needed support when used in a modular platform system.

[0059] In one embodiment, the channels are formed by a pair of discontinuous walls, with the channel disposed therebetween. Since the channels run both longitudinally and transversely, the walls forming the channels are discontinuous to allow for the channels to traverse both the width and length of the tile for customizing of tile size. It should be understood that a discontinuous wall is a wall having discontinuities along a length thereof. The actual walling feature is maintained in spite of the discontinuities or spaces along the length of the wall as the wall is made of up spaced apart portions, the spaced apart portions forming the discontinuities, with the spaced apart portions extending from an underside of the top portion of the tile and aligned in a given direction to form a wall-like structure for formation of the channels and cutting slots.

[0060] The cutting slots are formed using discontinuous walls. In the illustrated embodiment, one of the discontinuous walls that form a given channel is used to form a wall of a given cutting slot. Another discontinuous wall that cooperates to form the cutting slot is formed by wall segments of the discontinuous walls that form channels running perpendicular to the direction of the given cutting slot.

[0061] FIG. 9 shows a schematic view of an underside of the tile to better illustrate the channels, the cutting slots, the discontinuous walls forming the channels, and the discontinuous wall and wall segments forming a given cutting slot.

[0062] The peripheral members 51 and slots 53 are shown surrounding the inner tile sizing structure 54 that forms the channels and cutting slots. The channels running in the x direction are designated by the reference numeral 63a-p, and the channels running in the y direction are designated by the reference numeral 65a-g.

[0063] Taking y-direction channel 63a as an example, a pair of discontinuous walls 67a1 and 67a2 are provided. The walls are discontinuous as each wall must have a space for x-direction channels 65a-65g. For channel 65a running in the x direction, the pair of discontinuous walls are designated by reference numerals 69a1 and 69a2. These x-direction discontinuous walls have the same longitudinal configuration as y-direction walls 67a1 and 67a2, just that they provide spaces for channels 63a-p.

[0064] A discontinuous wall 71 as part of the tile sizing structure is also employed to form the slot 53 with the peripheral member 51 and allow the y-direction channels 63a-p to be open to the slots 53. Similar discontinuous walls are employed for each of the peripheral members 51 of the tile.

[0065] Turning back to the cutting slots and x-direction channel 65a, one cutting slot running in the x direction is designated by the reference numeral 73a. This cutting slot 73a is formed on one side by the discontinuous wall 69a1 that abuts or helps form the channel 65a with the other discontinuous wall 69a2. The other side of the cutting slot 73a is formed by wall segments of the discontinuous walls that form the y-direction channels 63a-63p and the other cutting slot wall is discussed in more detail below in connection with FIG. 11. In the y direction, there would be 14 cutting slots 73a-73n. In the x direction, there would be 32 cutting slots, numbering 75a-75ff.

[0066] FIG. 10 shows an enlarged sectional view of FIG. 7 and one viewed along the lines X-X of FIG. 9. When viewing along the line X-X, the discontinuous wall 67i2 of FIG. 9 is shown in more detail. As noted above, the wall 67i2 is discontinuous for two reasons. One is that it must have one set of discontinuities or spaces for the channels, e.g., channel 65a, to be formed and run in the x direction. A second is the formation of another set of discontinuities in the wall 67i2 to allow the cutting slots, e.g., 73a, to also be formed and run in the x direction. In the embodiment of FIG. 8 and shown in more detail in FIG. 10, the discontinuities in the wall 67i2 for channel spaces are formed by the use of pins. With reference to x-direction channel 65a, a pairs of pins 79 are provided as part of the wall, opposing pairs of pins 79 are spaced apart in the y-direction, forming part of the x-direction channel 65a.

[0067] The wall 67i2 also includes number of wall segments 81, which function in part as forming the wall 67i2. The wall segments 81 combine with the pins 79 to create a discontinuous wall in the y direction, e.g., discontinuous wall 67i2, the discontinuous wall 67i2 forming the y direction channel 63i with an opposing discontinuous wall section not shown in FIG. 9. Similar discontinuous wall sections, for example discontinuous wall sections 69a1 and 69a2 with its own set of wall segments 81, see FIG. 8, run in the x direction to form the x direction channel 65a.

[0068] The pins 79 and wall segments 81 are arranged on an underside of the tile 50 in an alignment, wherein spaced apart opposing pins 79 are arranged to form part of the channel 65a for example. A wall segment 81 and a pin 79 adjacent thereto not only form part of the discontinuous wall 67i2, they also form part of a cutting slot running in the x direction, cutting slot 73a for example.

[0069] For the cutting slots, one of the pair of opposing discontinuous wall sections and faces of the wall segments 81 form the cutting slots. With reference to FIG. 11, a view along the line Xi-XI of FIG. 8, shows cutting slot 75w. It can be seen that one wall of the cutting slot is formed by faces 81a of the wall segments 81 form a discontinuous wall 85w. This discontinuous wall 85w coupled with discontinuous wall section 67i1, see FIG. 9, forms the cutting slot 75w. The discontinuous wall section 67i1 and faces 81a of the wall segments 81 function as a guide for cutting of the tile along the cutting slot 75w.

[0070] For the slot 53, aligned wall segments 81 and aligned faces 81a of other wall segments 81 face the outer peripheral member 51 to form the slots 53.

[0071] Referring back to FIG. 9, each corner of the tile underside structure has an l-shaped wall segment 84 made up of two wall segments joined together. There is no need to have disconnected wall segments at the corners of the underside tile structure as the cutting slots are spaced from each slot 53 that follows the periphery of the tile.

[0072] The y direction channels 63a-p and x direction channels 65a-65g are designed with two functions in mind. In one function, the channels accommodate one or more support boards 90, which is shown in FIG. 12. The support board 90 is designed to press fit within one or more of the channels 63a-p and 65a-g in the tile 50 and rest on one of the supporting surfaces 39 of the beam shown in FIG. 4B. The support board 90 provides support for the tile when it is sized is changed by removing parts of the tile using the cutting slots. Another function of the channels 63a-9 and 65a-g has the channels replicating the function of the outer peripheral member 51 and the slot 53 as described in more detail below.

[0073] FIG. 13 shows an uncut tile 50 in combination a pair of support boards 90. The support boards 90 are positioned in x-direction channels 65a and 65g. The tile is then cut along cutting slots 73a and 73n so that the tile would be reduced in with y direction while maintaining the same length in the x direction. The tile could then be used in a platform system with the y direction slots 53 engaging a pair of spaced apart beams. As noted above, the support boards 90 are sized so that a face 93 of each end portion 91 would rest on the supporting surfaces 39 of the beam 3, see FIGS. 4A and 4B. In this mode of use, the parts of the tile in terms of the outer peripheral member 51 and slot 53 are used in support of the tile with the beams 3. While FIG. 12 shows the tile dimension adjusted in the y direction, the support boards 90 could be arranged in the two of the channels 63a-63p and the tile dimension could be adjusted in the x direction as well. In this mode, the other set of original outer peripheral members 51 and slots 53 extending in the x-direction would be used to secure the tile to a pair of beams 3.

[0074] FIG. 14 shows another schematic similar to that use in FIG. 9 as an example of the tile being reduced in both x and y directions. In this drawing, the tile is reduced in dimension in both the x and y directions. The tile would be cut at y-direction cutting slot 75o and x-direction cutting slot 73j. With this cut configuration, a support board 90 could be inserted into channel 65e. The tile could be placed between two beams, one beam engaging the channel 63h and the other beam engaging the y-direction slot 53. In this configuration, the tile is supported across its longer dimension. However, if the platform system was such that the tile needed to be supported across its shorter dimension, a support board could be placed in channel 63h and the x-direction slot 53 and the channel 65e could be used to engage beams of the platform system.

[0075] By having a large number of channels and cutting slots, the tile dimension can be fine tuned in small dimensions. While the spacing of the wall segments and pins can vary for the number of cutting slots in both the x and y directions, the wall segments and pins can be arranged so that the tile can be cut in 1 inch increments for a precise control of the customized tile shape. Referring back to FIG. 9, the y-direction cutting slot 75a can be spaced an inch from the y-direction cutting slot 75c. Instead of making the y-direction cut in cutting slot 75a and using a support board in y-direction channel 63a, one could reduce the x-direction length of the tile by one inch and cut along cutting slot 75c and use a support board in y-direction channel 63b.

[0076] The customizable tile can be provided separately to users of an existing modular platform system or included as part of the modular platform system along with stock size tiles. Then, the modular platform system could be made with a combination of stock size tiles and customizable tiles for the ultimate in control in the size of the platform system.

[0077] While the discontinuous walls are made up of pins and wall segments to create the intersecting channels and intersecting cutting slots, other configurations for the portions of the walls that create the channels and cutting slots could be used. For example, while generally cylindrical pins are shown, the pins could be polygonal in shape, e.g., have a square transverse cross section. Likewise, instead of faces of wall segments forming one of the walls that form the cutting slots, other structure could be added between the faces of the wall segments (or substituted for the faces of the wall segments) to increase the area of the wall facing the discontinuous wall that forms one side of the channel.

[0078] When creating a modular platform using tiles, beam, and legs, the customizable tiles can be incorporated into the method of creating the modular platform. Once the size of the tile is known for use in the platform, the tile can be cut to size using one or more of the cutting slots and one of more of the channels for support board engagement.

[0079] While the customizable tile can be made out of any material, a preferred material would be a non-metallic material, e.g., a polymer like polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and the like and engineered plastics like ABS and the like. Having a non-metallic material like a polymer makes it much easier to cut the tile to a desired size using the cutting slots as opposed to the aluminum tiles that were used in prior art systems.

[0080] The support boards are also preferably made from a non-metallic material as well as the support boards may need to be cut to size. For example, in FIG. 13, the boards extend along the entire x-direction of the tile so that cutting to narrow the width of the tile would not require cutting the support boards. However, the tile that is adjusted in width and length as shown in FIG. 14 would require cutting of the support board. While the support boards could be a metallic material, they could also be made from a polymeric material, like that exemplified for the tile itself.

[0081] It should also be understood that if the tile is cut to a size that is quite small as compared to the original size of the tile for use in a modular platform system, the tile itself when attached to beams of the modular platform system may be able to support any loads placed on the tile during platform use. In these instances, one or more support boards would not be required.

[0082] As noted above, the customizable tile provides a significant advantage when construction platform systems like the one shown in FIG. 1. With the customizable tile, very fine size adjustments, e.g., on the order of an inch can be achieved so that the platform can be easily sized for any designed configuration. Since the tiles are made of a polymer material, e.g., high density polyethylene, polypropylene, or other high strength polymers, they can be cut on site once the platform system is being constructed. They are also more easily cut than the prior art tiles, which were made of aluminum. With these tiles, it was typical to have to receive the dimensions of the platform system prior to delivery of the system and have the tiles cut prior to delivery. This pre-cutting did not provide any leeway if the dimensions of the platform system needed to be altered. With the customizable tiles, any dimensional changes could be easily accommodated on site when the platform system is being constructed.

[0083] The cutting of the tile along the cutting slots can be done using any known cutting tool, saws, slitting blades, etc.

[0084] Since the tiles are not only customizable in size, the presence of the channels and capability to use a support board also the use of non-metallic materials as the support board can provided the needed strength to support a load on the tile when the tile is spanning beams in the platform system.

[0085] As such, an invention has been disclosed in terms of preferred embodiments thereof which fulfills each and every one of the objects of the present invention as set forth above and provides a new and improved customizable tile for use in a modular platform system, a modular platform system including one or more of the customizable tile, and a method of creating the modular platform system.

[0086] Of course, various changes, modifications, and alterations from the teachings of the present invention may be contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the intended spirit and scope thereof. It is intended that the present invention only be limited by the terms of the appended claims.