GB2202245A - Tiling - Google Patents

Abstract

Tiling comprising an array of tiles 10, each tile having means for connection with adjacent tiles. The connection between tiles may be attachment to one another in overlapping horizontal rows and may be through attachment to a plurality of supports such as battens 44, the rows being interlinked by attachment means which are preferably UPVC plastic pegs 52, 54. Each tile is provided with openings through which a peg can extend to attach a tile in an upper row to a batten and to connect the tile to an underlying tile in a lower row. All components may be made of UPVC for robustness, lightness and corrosion resistance, and are made by extrusion where appropriate. <IMAGE>

Description

TILING This invention relates to a tiling system, more particularly a tiling system comprising tiles supported by battens, a system frequently used to provide a building with, for example, a pitched roof or a shingled wall.

A pitched roof is usually formed by providing an array of tiles, supported by a structure comprising a plurality of wooden battens, to which the tiles are in some way fixed. Ordinarily these battens are arranged horizontally, spaced apart, parallel to one another, and in a plane whose inclination substantially corresponds to the pitch required of the finished roof. In an existing arrangement the tiles are heavy, moulded from a concrete-like material, and provided with a protruding flange along their upper edge by which means the tiles are hung from the battens.

Typically at least some of the tiles, every third row forexample, are nailed to their battens so as to lessen the chance of tiles being dislodged by high winds. Another existing arrangement employs rather thinner tiles known as 1slates', which have long been madeof natural slate, although more recently they too have been made of concrete-like material due to the greater cost of natural slate. Slates lack a flange or other means for hanging from a batten and therefore every slate must be nailed to the batten upon which it rests. In a further application, slates are often used for cladding an upright wall by similar means, in which case the slates are commonly known as shingles.

There are several drawbacks with these and similar existing arrangements, for instance the tiles can be difficult to use and expensive to transport, as a result of their considerable weight and bulk. FuNthermore they are expensive to make and difficult to work with, in that it is difficult to break the tiles cleanly and evenly where, for example, a part tile is required to complete a row. A major problem is the fragility of current tiles, which can lead to them breaking while being loaded, unloaded, transported or nailed down.

They can also fail after being fixed down, for instance by weathering, corrosion, or by the weight of a workman walking on the roof. The roof can be further damaged by corrosion of the nails, due perhaps to 'acid rain' or salty conditions, or by rainwater penetration causing the battens to rot.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved tiling sysfem.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided tiling comprising a plurality of tiles each of which is adapted in use to connect with adjacent tiles, either directly, or through an intermediate connection means connectable with each of said adjacent tiles.

Preferably the tiling incudes supporting means and the tiles, in use, are attached to at least one of said supporting means by fastening means engageable with the supporting means. Suitably the fastening means comprises one or more separate pegs.

Preferably the components of the tiling system are made of plastic material such as UPVC (unplasticised polyvinyl chloride), and are advantageously formed by extrusion wherever possible. Beneficially the tiles interlock with or overlap each other in a way which conceals their fastenings, for neatness and waterproofing.

Advantageously the supporing means are UPVC extruded battens and the fastening means are UPVC pegs which can be pushed into place, holding the tiles down by engaging within an opening in the batten.

Preferably the extruded battens are arranged in the usual way on a roof or wall structure. The tiles may be connected by interlocking means, or the connection may alternatively be by adhesive means.

According to another aspect of this invention there is provided tiling comprising a plurality of tiles, supporting means and fastening means, wherein the tiles, in use, are attached by means of said fastening means to at least one of said supporting means, the fastening means being adapted to interlock with said supporting means.

Preferably the fastening means are discrete pegs of UPVC material which can be pushed into place through an opening in a tile so as to hold it firmly to its support, which is preferably a UPVC extruded batten.

However the fastening means may comprise pegs or other protrusions integral with a tile or batten. Suitably, the fastening means comprise separate pegs for insertion through one or more openings situated towards the upper edge of a tile, for engagement with a first batten, and further pegs for insertion through one or more openings in the lower portion of the tile, so as to pass through an opening in an adjacent lower tile and engage a second batten to which the lower tile is affixed, in order to obtain a desired overlap and stagger between rows of tiles.

Advantageously the tiles are adapted to connect, in use, with adjacent tiles in each row. Beneficially the adjacent tiles in adjacent rows are adapted to connect with one another. Preferably these interconnections are made by means of interlocking but they may involve adhesion or the use of mutual fastening means, for example.

This invention will now be described by way of example with refernce to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an interrupted plan view of a tile according to one aspect of this invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged interrupted crosssectional view of the tile of Figure 1, taken along line Il-Il; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the interlocking of two such tiles; Figure 4 is an end view of a batten according to another aspect of this invention, showing the batten's cross-section; Figure 5 is a set of detail views of two pegs according to a further aspect of this invention; Figure 6 is a view of tiling according to this invention, showing two partial cross-sectional views A and B, taken along lines VIA-VIA^and VIB-VIB of Figure 7;; Figure 7 is a plan view of tiling according to this invention; Figure 8 is an interrupted end view of another tile according to one aspect of this invention; Figure 9 is a partial end view showing the interlocking of two tiles of the type shown in Figure 8; Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view of each of two further types of tile according to an aspect of this invention, showing the way in which they engage with neighbouring tiles of the same type; Figure 11 is an end view of each of two shapes of tile according to an aspect of this invention.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a tile 10 according to an aspect of this invention is an extrusion of plastics material, rectangular in plan. The upper surface 12 and lower surface 14 are substantially parallel planes, defining between themselves a thin, regular and solid cross-section 16. Located towards an upper edge of tile 10, as shown in Figure 1 and as in use, are two square holes 18 which extend through he tile and are circularly countersunk from upper surface 12. Located between holes 18 along a line joining their centres is an elongate slot 20, which also extends straight through the tile. A groove 22 extends along the right-hand side of upper surface 12, as represented in the drawings, this groove being of rectangular cross-section and not extending through the tile, but rather leaving a thin web 24 between its flat base and the lower surface 14 of tile 10.Web 24 is penetrated by a further elongate slot 26 located towards the bottom edge of tile 10 and extending parallel to groove 22 along its longitudinal axis. Another groove 28 is situated adjacent and parallel to groove 22 towards the centre of the tile 10, these two grooves being separated by a web 30 which has a lip 32 overhanging groove 28. Extending along the left-hand side of lower surface 14 is a further groove 34, again substantially rectangular in cross-section but having a lip 36 overhanging its outer portion.

Figure 3 shows the way in which a tile 10 can interlock with a neighbouring tile of the same design, so as to present a flush upper surface 38 The lefthand portion of tile 10 overlaps the right-hand portion of adjacent tile 40 so that lip 36 can be pushed into groove 28 until it engages under lip 32. The respective interlocking portions are shaped and dimensioned so as to engage with each other while leaving a flush upper surface 38 and also retaining a space 42 corresponding with groove 22,- but covered over by the left-hand portion of tile 10.

The tiles are affixed to a supporting structure such as a roof or wall via extruded plastic battens, the section of which is shown under reference numeral 44 in Figure 4. Batten 44 has a planar base web 46 which is used to hold the batten to its support structure, for instance by screws driven through the accessible portions of the base web. Base web 46 and two webs 48 define between themseleves a hollow, substantially rectangular box section which is enclosed except for an opening 50 between webs 48. Opening 50 extends along the entire length of batten 44, substantially bisecting its upper surface. This upper surface is inclined relative tQ the base web at an angle O which is chosen to promote the correct overlapping of tiles running from batten to batten down a roof or wall. Typically O = 10, for example, but 0 can be selected according to a variety of roof or tile dimensions.

The tiles are held to their battens by means of two types of moulded plastic pegs 52 and 5 respectively, as shown in Figure 5. These pegs comprise a disc-shaped end cap 56, a square-section body 58 and a pair of resilient prongs 60 which have outwardly-facing teeth at their ends. The pegs differ in that peg 52 has a longer body than has peg 54, for reasons which will be explained.

Referring now to Figures 6 and 7, an array of tiles 10 is formed by mounting them to battens 44, which are in turn affixed in the usual arrangement to a support structure (not shown). Each tile is attached at its upper edge to a first batten by means of a pair of short pegs 54, one of which is pushed through each hole 18 in the tile, so that the toothed prongs 60 can protrude through opening 50 and engage behind webs 48 in the batten. Peg 54 is dimensioned so as to fit flush with the upper surface of the tile, and to hold the tile's upper edge firmly to the batten.

Each tile is also attached to a second batten by means of a long peg 52, which extends through the slot 26 on the lower right-hand side of the tile. The tiles in adjacent horizontal rows are usually arranged in staggered formation; that is, the tiles in the rows above and below a given row are shifted, by half of the width of a tile, to one side relative to that row.

Accordingly, because the lower portion of each tile overlays the tile mounted to the next pair of battens lower down the roof or wall, the slot 26 on the right of the upper tile aligns with the slot 20 on the centreline of the lower tile. Therefore, peg 52 can extend through both tiles to engage with the batten in the manner described above, for which reason peg 52 is longer than peg 54 by virtue of its having to extend through more than one tile thickness. The relative positions of the holes and slots in a tile are chosen to suit the distance between battens and the extent of stagger between adjacent-rows. In addition the holes and slots are positioned relative to the perimeter of the tile so as to determine the overlap between rows; this overlap may, for example, be 80mm. The use of slots rather than holes makes alignment less critical and so eases fitting.

Once a tile has been attached to a pair of battens it may be interlocked with a neighbouring tile in its row, in the aforementioned way. As previously stated, the interlocking means allows a flush upper surface while retaining a space 42 beneath. This space accomodates the end cap 56 of the peg 52, thereby preserving the flush outer surface required of the finished tiling.

The array of tiles is built up from the bottom row upwards, there being an overlap of at least 50mm into guttering from this bottom course. The tiles at the end of each row may be secured, and may hive their edges finished, by means of mastic or a suitable dry verge capping, which may be provided with or without gullies. A ridge capping may be secured by mechanical fixing and a suitable adhesive tape, in such a way as to conceal the fixings of the uppermost course of tiles and complete a neat, weatherproof finish.

The various aforementioned components of the tiling system of this invention are preferably made of UPVC (unplasticised polyvinyl chloride), and wherever possible they are formed by extrusion. This material has a favourable combination of mechanical strength, fire resistance, corrosion resistance and cost.

A further, preferred embodiment of this invention is shown in Figures 8 and 9 of the drawings. This differs from the embodiment described above only in the way in which the tiles of a row interlock with one another. In this preferred embodiment, a toothed ridge 62 located towards the right-hand side of a tile engages within a correspondingly-shaped groqve 64 on the left-hand side of an adjacent tile, as shown in Figure 9. As before, a space 42 is preserved behind a flush outer surface 38 in order to accomodate the end cap of a peg located within.

Figure 10 shows two further variations of these interlocking means, one having a ridge 66 with an enlarged part-cylindrical upper portion which engages within a correspondingly-shaped opening 68 in an adjacent tile. The second variation employs an adhesive strip 70 which bonds the neighbouring tiles together.

This invention can also employ shaped tiles, as shown in Figure 11, instead of the substantially planar plain tiles described previously. These may, for instance, have ridges such as those illustrated, running up and down the tiles for aesthetic or functional reasons. The stagger between adjacent rows may be varied to suit the shaping of the tiles.

The various embodiments of this invention provide tiling which is very robust, being unlikely to be damaged during transport or fixing, or by workmen walking on the roof. The tiles are light in weight, need no mortar, can be easily cut to width and can be fixed very quickly, with little need for skill. All holes are covered so as to discourage water leaks. The extensive use of plastic materials helps to combat the various corrosion, weathering and rotting problems of existing systems in order to provide an adaptable, efficient and inexpensive tiling system which can be easily fitted by the "do-it-yourself" enthusiast.

Claims (21)

1. Tiling including an array of tiles, each tile being adapted for connection in use to at least one adjacent tile in the array.

2. Tiling according to Claim 1, wherein each tile is adapted for direct connection to an adjacent tile in use.

3. Tiling according to Claim lor Claim 2, wherein each tile is adapted for connection to an adjacent tile in use through intermediate connection means.

4. Tiling according to Claim 3, wherein the connection means comprises one or more discrete pegs.

5. Tiling according to any preceding Claim, further including supporting means for attachment to a structure being tiled.

6. Tiling according to Claim 5, wherein at least one tile is adapted for direct connection to the supporting means in use.

7. Tiling according to Claim 5 or Claim 6, wherein at least one tile is adapted for connection to the supporting means through intermediate fastening means.

8. Tiling according to Claim 7 when appendant to Claim 3 or Claim 4, wherein the connection means and the fastening means are the same.

9. Tiling according to any of the Claims 5 to 8, wherein the supporting means comprises at least one batten.

10. Tiling according to Claim 2 or Claim 6, wherein the direct connection is effected in use through mutually interlocking parts.

11. Tiling according to Claim 2 or Claim 6, wherein the direct connection is effected in use by adhesive attachment.

12. Tiling comprising an array of tiles made up of a plurality of overlapping horizontal rows attached in use to a plurality of supports, a first tile of an upper row being attached to a support in overlying relation to a second tile in an adjacent lower row also attached to the support, wherein the second tile is provided with an opening through which fastening means protrude in use to attach the first tile to the support and to connect the first tile to the second tile.

13. Tiling according to Claim 12, wherein each tile in a row is adapted for connection with adjacent tiles in a row.

14. Tiling according to Claim 12 or Claim 13, wherein the opening is provided in an upper central portion of the second tile for cooperation with fastening means provided in a lower side portion of the first tile.

15. Tiling according to any preceding Claim, wherein the tiles cooperate to conceal their fixings.

16. Tiling according to any preceding Claim, wherein a majority of the tiles are identical to one another.

17. Tiling according to any preceding Claim, wherein each component is of UPVC material.

18. A title including first and second means for connection in use with adjacent tiles in a row.

19. A tile according to Claim 18 further including means for connection in use to tiles in adjacent rows.

20. Tiling substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.

21. A tile substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.