Construction kit for display

Abstract

The present invention relates to a construction kit and, in particular, modular flooring elements for the assembly of a modular raised floor base with detachable and interchangeable cover plates. More specifically, the stackable floor elements with associated presentation pedestal that may be assembled horizontally or vertically in order to assemble a presentation floor or stage to showcase products. The main objective of the present invention is to provide improved coupling means for a composition between floor elements, blocks, and cover plates which further allows to make a wide variety of floors with different heights and shapes.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of Belgian provisional application No. BE2016 / 0079 filed on 2 May 2016.BACKGROUND OF INVENTIONField of Invention[0002]This invention relates to a construction kit and, in particular, modular flooring elements for the assembly of a modular raised floor base with detachable interchangeable cover plates. More specifically, the stackable floor elements with associated presentation pedestals that may be assembled continuously or stepwise horizontally and vertically to present a display platform for various products.Description of Prior Art[0003]Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form a part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the prese...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a composition of flooring systems and presentation pedestals that visually integrate presentation pedestals with floor systems. The invention offers a uniform style between the floor and upstanding presentation pedestals all with the same form, material, and cover plates. The invention also allows for easy adjustments in the size and appearance of the presentation pedestals. The construction kit described in the invention is suitable for the construction of furniture, floors, and presentation pedestals and is composed of tiles, blocks, and cover plates. The floor plates have a structural function but visually the upper surface is covered by the cover plates, leaving little visual requirements for the production of the floorboards, which allows for the usage of recycled materials for the production of the structural floor tiles. The cover plates have a non-structural load-bearing function and the cover plates are not trapped within the composition and may be easily replaced. The invention also offers an economical alternative to the cross plates as described in DE3819164A1 to Scmidlin and U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,529 to Treister et al. The cover plates are made by plastic injection molding, which is a process under high pressure which causes large internal stress during injection and solidification of the material. The use of planar cover plates with upstanding edges acts like flow channels that facilitate the injection molding process and result in a completely flat cover plate.

Problems solved by technology

However, modular floor elements known in the prior art are not adapted well enough to present products with sufficient distinction in the height.

A disadvantage in the current state of the art is the fact that no solutions are offered which visually integrate presentation pedestals with floor systems.

On the other hand, the downside of a presentation pedestals made from a monolithic material is that they have a static design which is not easy to change its shape or its outer finish.

The disadvantage of such a system is that the tiles are not stackable.

As a result, it is not possible to make higher floor elements.

The downside to these floor systems as described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,328,521 to Huss (2016) is that the floors do not have any height distinction.

On the other hand, flooring system as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,205,407 to Genoa (2012) does have height distinction, but the floor elements are not stackable and thus higher floors cannot be made.

A disadvantage of floor systems as illustrated in U.S. Design Pat. No. 456,533S1 to Moller, J R.

(2002) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,886 to Andres (2001) is that these floor systems do not build up the height above the ground surface, so that the visual distinction in height is limited and it is not possible to lead through the cables inside the flooring system.

Often, it is difficult to stow away the cables without changing the routing of the cables.

The disadvantage of floor systems as described in US Pat. App. No. 2015361675 to Cerney et al (2015) is that the sides of the floor have protruding parts, so that the sides of the composite floor always have protruding parts.

A disadvantage of modular flooring systems with interchangeable connectors as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,244 to Bentzon (1996) is that the separate connecting elements are often lost during transportation or installation of the floor elements.

The disadvantage of switchable floor systems as described in US Pat. App. No. 2002108323 to Gruber (2002) is that the breakdown and build-up must always be linear.

The assembly and disassembly shall always start at the sides of the composition, although which has the disadvantage that the flexibility of the installation is greatly reduced.

In this construction, it rather becomes difficult to exchange the cover plates because of their structural functions.

(1997) is that the materials and construction techniques are expensive.

A disadvantage of flooring systems such as described in CN102947872 with interchangeable inserts is that separate inserts are often expensive.

Flat cover plates without internal rib structure with a projected area greater than 1500 cm2 made from plastic in an injection moulding process is very difficult to produce.

But a disadvantage of injection moulding of flat cover plates with a large surface is that injection molding of large flat surfaces is technically difficult.

Injection molding is a process under high pressure which causes large internal stress during injection and solidification of the material.

Therefore, after the injection molding process the cover plates will typically bend which make them unusable.

An additional disadvantage of the injection moulding of large surfaces is that the filling of the entire mould becomes more difficult if the surface of the cover plate becomes thinner.

The use of different injection points may help for the filling of a thin surface but will have the disadvantage that there will be a visible flow line at those places where the material during the injection will touch each other.

Furthermore, a disadvantage of modular systems, as described in WO2014122155A1 is that these systems have a plurality of parts and mechanical connections between the different elements.

The mechanical connection between the components results in a visible seam.

The result of many mechanical connections results in a plurality of seams which makes the composition of a presentation pedestal appears complex.

Another disadvantage of presentation pedestals made with systems as described in WO2014122155A1 is that the plurality of components that are required for the construction of a presentation pedestal, result in a higher total economic cost and decreased ease of use.

Often, these users do not have time to make complex compositions.

For presentation systems the user needs different components; building a presentation pedestal is done with different profiles, different plates and different connections which is very labour intensive process.

This results in high labor costs which is an important disadvantage for companies providing shop window services.

The disadvantage of this type of modular systems is that there are many visible seams.

The disadvantage of CN699151 is that cadres should be made with a profile.

This results in a higher flexibility, however, as a disadvantage, the composition will form a plurality of visible seams what is considered as visually unattractive.

(2003) is that they have an open top and cannot be used for products to be placed upon.

However, DE202004016911 offers no horizontal connections; thereby it is not possible to make a modular structure which is mechanically connected.

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