Tile marking and/or cutting device

A tile marking tool uses a probe mounted on a biased marking arm to engage and follow a contour of an obstruction, such as a wall, cabinet, or heat vent, adjacent which floor tile must be installed. As the tool is moved along the wall, a marking element on the other end of the marking arm marks or cuts the contour of the obstruction on a tile or tiles to be laid, facilitating cutting and/or placement of the tile in such a way as to fit well against the obstruction. Embodiments include a corner marking arrangement for marking tiles to be laid in reentrant corners. The corner marking arrangement includes a corner arm attachable to and orthogonal to the marking arm so that the tool is used in usual fashion as it approaches the reentrant corner.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Marking of tiles for cutting.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

Floor tiles are generally laid first in open areas of a floor and are then cut to fit gaps that occur along walls or around obstacles. Many tile marking devices have been proposed for marking tiles to be cut to fit into the resulting gaps. These generally measure a gap and then mark the measurement on a tile, proceeding one tile at a time. A manual method positions a whole tile upside down against a wall or obstruction so that the whole tile overlaps a laid tile, and then a mark is made along the laid tile for a portion of the whole tile to be cut away and turned right side up to fit into the gap. All of these systems mark one tile at a time using procedures that are inconvenient and slow.

Embodiments disclosed herein aim at a faster and more efficient way of marking tiles to fit accurately within gaps between laid tiles and walls or obstructions. Embodiments also cut tiles to be laid directly, rather than first drawing or scratching a profile and then cutting. Embodiments aim at simplicity, low cost, convenience, and accuracy in quickly accomplishing the marking of tiles so they can be cut to fit whatever gap remains to be filled with the pieces along walls or in corners.

The inventive system as illustrated by embodiments disclosed herein begins by positioning whole tiles on top of laid tiles, either individually or along rows of laid tiles. In doing so, embodiments apply to tiles of vinyl, ceramic, and other materials. A marking device having a probe and a marking element separated from the probe by a tile width is moved along a single tile or preferably along a whole row of tile. Marking element here encompasses drawing elements, such as pens, markers, pencils, paintbrushes, and chalk, scratching elements, such as knives and abrasive elements, and cutting elements, such as saws, lasers, and other tools used for cutting tile. As the probe follows a wall or obstruction, the marking element, which is spaced a tile width away from the probe, marks the tile or tiles along a line parallel with and spaced from the wall or obstruction. The marked tiles can then be cut along the marked line, and the cut off pieces will fit accurately into the space between the laid tiles and the wall or obstruction. Alternatively, where the marking element is a cutting element, it cuts the tile parallel with and spaced from the wall or obstruction so that the cut tile will fit into the space between the laid tiles and the wall or obstruction.

A preferred way of accomplishing this is with a base that includes a fence that can guide along the edges of laid tiles and the superposed tiles. The base also includes a spring that lightly presses the probe away from the fence to contact and stay engaged with a wall or obstruction as the base moves along, the superposed whole tiles are restrained by the fence from moving toward the wall or obstruction, and a board or straight edge can be laid along the edge of the superposed tiles opposite the wall to keep the superposed tiles from moving as the base slides along the tile edges. The marking tool can be moved by hand, or a handle extending upward from the base can facilitate the movement along the tile row. The result is then a whole row of tiles accurately marked to fit a gap between laid tiles and a wall or obstruction. The tile marking accomplished this way can automatically follow variations in gap dimensions between the laid tiles and a wall or obstruction.

A special arrangement allows the marking device to mark a corner tile so that it can fit into a corner gap between two walls or between a wall and an obstruction.

DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-3schematically show how a simplified preferred embodiment25of the inventive marking device can be used for marking different dimensions of gaps between a laid tile16on floor15and a wall or obstacle20. Tile17to be marked is superposed over laid tile16, and a fence27of base26guides along the edges of tiles16and17. This allows base26and fence27to move along a whole row of laid tiles16and superposed tiles17while marking a line on or cutting superposed tiles17. To facilitate movement of the base26, rolling elements, such as wheels, ball bearings, or the like, can be mounted on the base26for engagement with a surface beneath the base26, such as a laid tile17.

Fence27keeps tile17from moving toward wall20. This is because fence27also guides on laid tile16and thus prevents superposed tile17from moving past the edge of laid tile16. A board or straight edge18can be positioned against the rear edge of a superposed tile17, such as shown inFIG. 1, so that board18can run along a row of superposed tiles17and help stabilize them against movement away from wall20while base26and fence27slide along the tile edges.

A marking rod30is mounted on base26to move back and forth under a bias preferably provided by a spring40, alternative embodiments of which are shown inFIGS. 1 and 4. Different forms of springs can be arranged to accomplish this, and many different connections are possible for different source of springs. The rod30includes a probe31arranged near a forward end and a marking element35arranged near a rear end. The bias of spring40, however attached to marking rod30, urges probe31gently against wall or obstruction20as base26and fence27move along a tile edge or row of tile edges while marking element35marks a line on a superposed tile17.

The distance between a tip of probe31and marking element35mounted on rod30is preferably equal to a width of tiles16and17. With fence27engaging tile edges16and17and probe31engaging wall20, marking element35is then positioned to mark off a dimension on superposed tile17equal to the gap distance between laid tiles16and wall20. When tile17is so marked, the piece of tile17between marking element35and board18fits in the gap between laid tile16and wall20. The width of the gap and the corresponding width of the piece to be cut from a superposed tile17can vary as marker25proceeds along a row of tiles.

Marking element35can be any convenient marking instrument, such as a ballpoint pen, felt tip marking pen, pencil, chalk, saw, or knife. As used herein, “marking” includes drawing, as with a pen, pencil, chalk, marker, or other drawing implement, scratching, as with a knife, abrasive element, or other scratching tool, and cutting, as with a tile saw, knife, laser, torch, or other cutting implement. Selection of an appropriate marking element35is based on low cost and reliability in marking a line that can be followed to cut a tile or cutting the tile outright. Probe31can have a ball bearing or wheel arranged to roll smoothly with reduced friction along a wall or obstruction. In alternative embodiments, a cutting device can be used marking element35to simply cut the tile to be marked rather than first marking, then cutting the tile. Thus, marking element35can take the form of a saw, laser, torch, heating element, or other device that can cut tile.

FIG. 2schematically illustrates the same marking device25as illustrated inFIG. 1, but positioned to mark a narrower piece of superposed tile17fitting a narrower gap between laid tile16and wall20.FIG. 3schematically illustrates the same tile marking device25as illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2, but positioned to mark for the wider gap between laid tile16and wall20.

As also illustrated inFIG. 3, a notch in a bottom of body26serves as a rear fence28that can be used to guide along the tile edges instead of front fence27. Motion of probe31and marker arm35back and forth within base26is limited by the width of base26, so that rear fence28provides an alternative to front fence27. Fence28can then be used, as shown inFIG. 3, when a wide gap exists between laid tile16and wall or obstruction20.

A front vertical notch23, as shown inFIG. 2, provides a recess to accommodate probe31when measuring a narrow gap, and a rear vertical notch24, as shown inFIG. 3, provides a recess to accommodate marking element35when measuring a wide gap. Altogether, base26is preferably dimensioned to enable marking of both the smallest and largest possible cuts from superposed tile17and any dimension of cut in between these.

FIGS. 5,8, and9schematically show a corner probe50clamped to marker arm30to aid in corner marking. Probe arm50extends from arm30by one tile width, just as the distance between probe31and marking element35equals one tile width. Referring toFIGS. 8 and 9, probe arm50allows tile marking tool25to guide along an adjacent wall while marking a corner tile17C for a cut shaped to fit a corner gap, as explained below. While the probe arm50is shown extending from the marking arm toward the opposite side of the base26, the probe arm50can instead be mounted to project from the marking arm away from the base, as seen, for example, inFIG. 11. This alternative arrangement can allow for more flexibility in marking corners in that the base26does not interfere with the movement of the marking arm toward a corner wall in some circumstances.

FIGS. 6 and 7show how rows of tiles17can be marked to approach a corner21between two walls20A and20B.FIG. 7shows how a row of superposed tiles17can be positioned on top of laid tiles (not shown) and possibly stabilized by a board18as the tile row extends along wall20A approaching corner21. The tiles marked with line36can then be cut to fit into the gap between the tile row and wall20A.

In a similar way, tool25can move along tiles17in a direction parallel to wall20B while marking line37. For this step, the corner-most tile17C is replaced to form a new tile row extending along wall20B. Then, as illustrated inFIGS. 6 and 7, tile pieces cut along line37can then fit the gap between tiles17and wall20B.

Once the tiles are marked with lines36and37and/or are then cut to form pieces that fit the gaps along walls20A and20B, what remains is an empty corner gap to be marked for a filling tile piece as shown inFIGS. 8 and 9. This requires use of an additional corner tile17C and the use of corner probe50, also illustrated inFIGS. 5 and 11. Marking tool25, with corner probe50attached, is moved along tile17C to approach corner21between walls20A and20B. Corner probe50engages wall20B and stops probe and marking arm30so that marking element35stops one tile width short of corner21. Then marking tool25is slid along a top face of tile17C while holding probe50against wall20B so as to mark line37parallel with wall20B. A corner piece cut from tile17C along lines36and37then fits into the tile gap at corner21. Fence27is preferably vertically adjustable so it can be raised to facilitate movement of body26over the top surface of tile17C during marking of line37. In embodiments in which the marking element35directly cuts the corner tile17C, the corner piece is ready to be placed in the gap as soon as the user has finished with the marking tool25.

Since marking tool25can quickly mark or cut along a whole row of tiles, it is convenient to have a handle55extending upward from body26so that an operator, after laying a row of superposed tiles17, can slide body26along the tile edges by using handle55to mark a whole row of tiles in a few seconds. This saves bending over and crawling about on hands and knees. Rolling elements29, such as wheels or ball bearings, placed in the base can further ease use of the marking tool25as seen, for example, inFIG. 3.