Support Plate with Clamping Extension for Floor Tile Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing floor slab installation methods using rail substructures are inadequate for natural stone slabs due to varying thicknesses, leading to tripping hazards, and lack of stability against suction forces, with complex component requirements complicating planning and construction.
Innovation Solution
The use of support plates with a base plate and vertically projecting webs, featuring receiving spaces for adhesive and a bolt-shaped clamping extension, which secures the support plate to the rail and allows for stable adhesive bonding between the floor slabs and the rail substructure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional installation techniques are used for natural stone slabs, then the installation process is simple, but the varying thicknesses of natural stone slabs create tripping hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The support system is segmented into individual adjustable supports positioned at each corner of floor slabs, allowing independent height adjustment for each support point to compensate for varying natural stone slab thicknesses
Solution Approach 2:
The support height parameter is made adjustable to accommodate variations in natural stone slab thickness, enabling the installation surface to maintain uniform level despite changes in the underlying slab parameters
2Device complexity
If floor slabs are laid directly on rails with sealing strips, then the structure is simple, but water cannot drain off laterally
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing function is extracted from the rail-floor slab interface by introducing separate joint spacers, allowing the rail support structure to remain simple while enabling water drainage pathways through the joint spaces
3Reliability
If clamps are used to secure floor slabs against suction, then suction stability is improved, but relative movement between floor slabs and clamps causes instability and noise
Solution Approach 1:
The support and clamping functions are merged into a single integrated support plate system with clamping extensions that engage with the rails, eliminating relative movement between separate components while maintaining suction stability
4Reliability
If multiple different components are used to construct the floor slab arrangement, then the floor slabs can be secured and aligned, but planning and implementation become complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The support plate is designed as a universal multi-functional component that combines support, clamping, and alignment functions, replacing multiple different components (supports, clamps, aligners) with a single standardized element that performs all necessary functions
Solution Approach 2:
The support plates are pre-positioned on the rails at predetermined locations, establishing the framework for subsequent floor slab installation and ensuring proper alignment and spacing before the actual laying process begins
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables secure and stable installation of floor slabs, including natural stone, by addressing suction issues and allowing lateral water drainage, while simplifying the installation process with fewer required components.
Implementation Method 1
The receiving spaces are filled with adhesive, preferably with a two-component adhesive, before the base plate is placed on top. The 2-component adhesive cures, as is well known, not through the evaporation of a solvent, but through a chemical reaction
Implementation Method 2
a bolt-shaped clamping extension protrudes from the rail-side base surface
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3a~3c
Figure 4a~4c
AI summary
Support plates and arrangement for square or rectangular floor tiles, in particular tiles, for laying in the corner areas of adjacent floor tiles resting on rails (11) of a rail substructure, with a base plate (1) that forms a plate-side support surface for the corner areas of the floor tiles and a rail-side base surface, wherein four vertically projecting ribs (4) from the plate-side support surface are provided, which form a joint cross with four support areas for the floor tiles located between the respective ribs (4), wherein it is proposed that in the support areas between the ribs (4) a penetration (9) is provided in the base plate (1) to form a receiving space for adhesive, and a clamping extension (3) projecting from the rail-side base surface is provided.