Patent Publication Number: US-2011067354-A1

Title: Tile pusher for floor tiles

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a DIY tool, and more particularly to an assisting device in tiling floor which may help to press the floor tiles and make them tightly tiled together. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In various DIY products, DIY floor tile, which is commonly favored for different reasons such as its variety of patterns, easy instruction, etc. Consumer may choose floor tiles of different materials, textures, and colors to create a brand new atmosphere of a room. 
     Typically, floor tiles are provided with protrusions and slots on four edges to be engaged with their neighboring tiles. Glue is applied between the engaged tiles to ensure that the tiles are connected together. 
     In practice, after the boards being glued and engaged, it takes some time to press the tiles and makes them firmly tiled together. A commonly seen way of pressing the tiles is hammering. Some put a piece of wood on the edge of the tile and hammer the wood to avoid the possible damage on the tile. However, hammering will still damage the tiles more or less. Besides, for tiles close to the wall, there is no sufficient space for hammering. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a tile pusher capable of pressing floor tiles and make them firmly tiled together. 
     The secondary objective of the present invention is to provide a tile pusher capable of pressing floor tiles close to the wall. 
     According to the objectives of the present invention, a tile pusher includes a base, on which a bar is provided for reciprocation and a driving member is provided for rotation. The bar and the driving member have teeth to be meshed with each other. An exerting member is connected to an end of the bar, and an operating member is connected to the driving member for turning. User may operate the operating member to move the exerting member toward or backward to press a floor tile on a neighboring floor tile. 
     The present invention further provides a lock device to hold the exerting member at a very position that the exerting member may keep pressing the floor tile for a period. In addition, the present invention further provides a reverse exerting member on the base to press the floor tile close to a wall. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view, showing the head portion of the bar and the connector of the exerting member; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the lock device securing the driving member; 
         FIG. 5  is similar to  FIG. 4 , showing the lock device releasing the driving member; 
         FIG. 6  is a sketch diagram of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the tile pusher being operated to have the exerting member pressing the floor tile; and 
         FIG. 7  is a sketch diagram of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the tile pusher being operated to have the reverse exerting member pressing the floor tile. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Please refer to the drawings, a floor tile pusher of the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes: 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , a base  10 , which is a rectangular board, has four recesses  12  at opposite sides. Bolts or screws (not shown) may be inserted into the recesses  12  respectively to fix the base  10  at a predetermined place. The base  10  is provided with a frame base  14  and a lock device  16 . 
     The frame base  14  has a high portion  18  and a low portion  20  wherein the high portion  18  is provided with a through hole  22 , and low portion  20  has a two-stage bore  24  at a top thereof. On a vertical adjacent side of the high portion  18  and the low portion  20 , an opening is provided thereon to expose a middle section of the through hole  22 . 
     A bar  26  passes through the through hole  22  of the frame base  14  for reciprocation. The bar  26  has teeth  28 . In the present invention, the bar  26  is a screw, and the thread thereon is the teeth  26 . The bar  26  has a head portion  30  at a front end thereof on which an annular slot  31  is provided. A stopping member  32  is fixed at a rear end of the bar  26  by a bolt  33 . The stopping member  32  is a disk having a diameter greater than that of the through hole  22  that the bar will not fall off from the through hole  22 . 
     An exerting member  34 , which is an L-shaped plate, is fixed with a connector at a rear side thereof. The connector  36  is a rectangular block having an opening  38 . The head portion  28  of the bar  26  is inserted into the opening  38  of the connector  36 , and a pin  40  is inserted into the connector  36  and enters the slot  30  of the head portion  28 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , that the exerting member  34  is connected to the bar  26  and is capable of rotating. 
     A driving member  42  has an inward-curved-circumference, on which teeth  44  are provided, a post  46  on a bottom thereof, and a bore  48  on a top thereof. A bearing  50  is mounted in the two-stage bore  24 , and the post  46  of the driving member  42  is connected to the bearing  50  that the teeth  44  of the driving member  42  is meshed with the teeth  28  of the bar  26  through the opening of the high portion  18  of the frame base  14 . 
     An operating device  52 , which is a crank in the present invention, is connected to the driving member  42  through a shaft  54  for manipulation of driving the driving member  42  turning, and then make the driving member  42  reciprocate the bar  26 . The shaft  54  has an end inserted into the bore  48  of the driving member  42  and the other end inserted into an opening  56  of the operating device  52 . A pin  60  is inserted into a slot  58  of the shaft  54  and the driving member  42  to secure the connection of the operating device  52  and the driving member  42 . 
     The lock device  16  has a base  62 , a bolt  64  and a post  66 . The base  62  has a through hole  68 , an opening  70  on a top to expose a middle section of the through hole  68 , and two transverse recesses  72 ,  74  on opposite ends of the opening  70 . The bolt  64  is received in the through hole  68  of the base  62 , and the post  66  has an end connected to the bolt  64  via the opening  70  that user may hold the post  66  to move the bolt  64  along the through hole  68 . The bolt  64  has a tip end  76  facing the driving member  42 . When user holds the post  66  and moves the bolt  64  toward the driving member  42 , as shown in  FIG. 4 , the tip end  76  will enter a space between two neighboring teeth  44  of the driving member  42  and lock the driving member  42 , and then user may turn and lay the post  66  into the slot  72  and secure the bolt  64  at this position. Under this condition, user is unable to turn the operating member  52 . On the contrary, when user moves the bolt  64  away from the driving member  42 , as shown in  FIG. 4 , the tip end  76  will leave the driving member  42 , and then user may turn and lay the post  66  into the slot  74 . Under this condition, user is able to turn the operating member  52  to drive the bar  26  moving forward and backward. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , in completing the task of tiling a floor, worker may put the tile pusher of the present invention in front of a floor tile  78 , and then turn the operating member  52  to move the exerting member  34  toward the floor tile  78  that the exerting member  34  may press the floor tile  78  on a neighboring floor tile  80  to make them firmly connected together. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the present invention further provides a reverse exerting member  82 , which is an L-shaped plate fixed on a front of the base  10  by two bolts  84 . When the floor is tiled to a place close to a wall  86 , due to a lack of space worker may put the tile pusher of the present invention on a floor tile  88 , as shown in  FIG. 7 , and turn the operating member  52  to move the exerting member  34  toward the wall  86 . When the exerting member  34  touches the wall  86  and the worker keeps turning the operating member  52 , it will move the base  10  backward that the reverse exerting member  82  may press the floor tile  88  towards a neighboring floor tile  90  and make them firmly connected together. 
     The characters and advantages of the present invention are described as following: 
     1. By turning the operating member clockwise and counterclockwise, the exerting member may be driven forward or backward to press the floor tile and firmly connect the floor tiles together. 
     2. By operating the lock device, the exerting member may be held at a very position and make the exerting member keep pressing the floor tile for a period. 
     3. Since there may be a blocker interfering with the pressing work of the tile pusher of the present invention, the exerting member may be rotated to keep itself off the blocker that the blocker may not interfere with the pressing work. 
     4. The inward-curved-circumference of the driving member is complementary to the bar that the meshed teeth of the driving member and the bar have a greater contact area. It may provide the tile pusher of the present invention a greater power to press the floor tile. 
     5. The reverse exerting member may be mounted on the base for tiling a floor when tiling task becomes close to the wall with little space to work, which makes the tile pusher of the present invention applicable without limitation of space. 
     Although the tile pusher of the present invention is designed for tiling tasks, it may be used in any task that requires pressing, moving or lifting different types of boards and other similar objects. 
     The description above is a few preferred embodiments of the present invention and the equivalence of the present invention is still in the scope of the claim of the present invention.