Illuminated tiling system

The present invention relates to illuminated tile systems, dummy tiles for such systems, and methods of tile walls using such illuminated tile systems.

This International Patent Application Publication No. 2007/112851A1 pamphlet discloses illuminated tiles with organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) in their housings. The elements of the snap-in rear of the housing in advance Installing on said wall to connect the OLED to supply cooperating with snap elements corresponding being eclipsed.

<p> The problem with this approach is that the elements on the wall must be accurately positioned in advance.</p><p> Against this background, an object of the present invention is to provide an illuminated tile system that is simple and cost effective in terms of manufacture and / or installation.</p>

<p> This object is achieved by the illuminated tile system of claim 1, the dummy tile of claim 8 of attachment, and the method of claim 9 of attachment. Preferred embodiments are disclosed in the accompanying dependent claims.</p><p> The illuminated tile system according to the present invention has the following components: a) At least one back panel with at least one conductive layer covered on at least one side by an (electrical) insulating material. As its name suggests, the back panel preferably has a flat plate, such as a shape in which the conductive layer extends parallel to the plane of the plate. The conductive layer preferably covers the entire area of the back panel, but may optionally be limited to some secondary areas. The conductive layer is typically made of a metal such as copper and the insulating material is typically plastic. In addition, the back panel preferably has sufficient flexibility to allow adaptation to the non-planar surface of the wall. b) At least one plug (below, which comprises an electrical terminal and a protrusion that can be penetrated through the back panel described above so as to electrically connect the conductive layer of the back panel to the plug terminal. Called "plug terminal"). In the simplest case, the protrusion may be a metal pin (such as a nail), but preferably has an assembly structure having an insulating carrier material with an embedded electrical line. The main purpose of the protrusion is to make electrical contact of the back panel with the conductive layer, but the protrusion can optionally mechanically attach the plug to the back panel. If the back panel has two or more conductive layers, the protrusions can electrically connect these layers in a single, all or some subset to the corresponding plug terminals. c) At least one optical tile having a light emitting diode (LED) as a light source having at least one electrical terminal (hereinafter referred to as "tile terminal"), the tile terminal is such that the optical tile is attached to the plug. When attached, it is electrically coupled to the plug terminal of the plug described above. In this context, "electrical coupling" shall, by definition, allow the transmission of electrical energy and / or signals.</p><p> Despite the minimum number of each component (back panel, plug, optical tile) being 1, the system typically has a plurality of each of the components.</p><p> This illuminated tile system described has a conventional back panel with a conductive layer that provides a power source within a large area of the wall (optionally over the entire wall) so that the light tile is a conventional wall. It offers a very flexible and easy-to-use approach to embedding in tiles. This power supply can be contacted at any desired location by simply penetrating the back panel through the plug of the system, which penetration is after conventional tile upholstery (ie, said desired light tile). Can be done (when you know the exact location of). The light tile can then be connected to the plug, thus providing the desired lighting within this tiled range.</p><p> This illuminated tile system preferably further comprises said optical tiles and / or "dummy tiles" having dimensions similar to said optical tiles and said plugs (which do not have any functional components). This dummy tile can be used as a placeholder for light tiles during wall tiles. Thus, the tiling can be performed as usual, i.e. without having to worry about (sensitive) light tiles. Once the tiling is complete, the dummy tile can be replaced with a light tile.</p><p> To facilitate the replacement of the above-mentioned dummy tiles with optical tiles, the dummy tiles are preferably applied to a given tiled mortar, cement or adhesive such that they are used as is for tileing. On the other hand, it may have a non-adhesive surface. This does not prevent subsequent removal, even if such dummy tiles are placed in the same binder as conventional tiles. Further, the dummy tile may optionally have means such as a tongue, a hook or a notch to facilitate the gripping of the dummy tile manually or by a tool.</p><p> The LED light source incorporated in the optical tile is preferably an organic light emitting diode (OLED). OLEDs are particularly advantageous for providing robust, similar large area illumination, with cold surfaces and variable colors.</p><p> The electrical coupling between the plug terminals and the tile terminals allows the transmission of electrical energy and / or signals from the conductive layer of the back panel to the light source, eg, directly between these terminals. Can be achieved by electrical (physical) contact. Alternatively, the terminals may be coupled wirelessly. In the latter case, the terminals are designed as (small) antennas or coils that emit and receive energy via electromagnetic waves. The wireless coupling has the advantage that the terminal can be completely embedded within an insulation that protects the terminal from corrosion.</p><p> The main task of this plug is to provide a plug terminal through which the optical tile can be coupled to the conductive layer (s) in the back panel. Optionally, the plug and the optical tile may further have a collaborative connection unit that mechanically couples them together. The connecting unit can be, for example, a plug socket type with a male unit located on the optical tile and a female unit on the plug or vice versa. By mechanically attaching the optical tile to the plug, the fixation of the optical tile becomes independent of the adhesive or mortar used to secure the conventional tile. Moreover, such connections are typically reversible, i.e. optical tiles can be easily replaced if necessary.</p><p> The illuminated tile system may optionally also have at least one connector for electrically connecting the corresponding conductive layers of adjacent back panels. Thus, a plurality of back panels can be arranged side by side to cover a wall area that is to be tiled by the corresponding conductive layers of the back panels at the same potential.</p><p> The present invention further relates to plugs, light tiles, and dummy tiles, respectively, for the types of illuminated tile stems described above. This is because these elements can be manufactured and sold as their own products.</p><p> Further, the present invention relates to a method of tiled a wall using the above-mentioned type of illuminated tile system with dummy tiles. The term "wall" refers to the most general meaning in the context of the present invention, i.e. any area that is to be tiled (eg, floor, ceiling, walls of an upright room, etc.). It should be noted that it should be understood as a thing. This method has the following steps: a) The step of attaching at least one back panel of the illuminated tile system to the wall. This mounting can be achieved by any suitable means (eg, gluing or screwing). b) Steps to attach the dummy tile to the back panel. This attachment can be made mechanically directly to the back panel and / or via the plug described below. Further, this attachment may be achieved by embedding the dummy tile in a mortar, cement or adhesive to which the conventional tile is fixed. c) The step of attaching a conventional tile (eg, a ceramic tile) to the back panel. This attachment of conventional tiles may be made before, during and / or after attachment of the dummy tile. d) The step of removing the dummy tile (50), which is typically done after the conventional tile installation has been sufficiently fixed (eg, after the used mortar has hardened). To.</p><p> The term "conventional tile" includes all types of regularly or irregularly shaped tiles, mosaics or paving stones suitable for covering walls and / or back panels.</p><p> Steps a) to d) can be performed in any conceivable order and / or in parallel. In particular, it is possible to first tile the entire wall with traditional tiles and then replace at least one of these tiles with dummy tiles.</p><p> The use of dummy tiles as placeholders allows the methods described above to uniquely tile walls as if traditional tiles were being used. After only this tiling is finished, the (sensitive) light tile is inserted in the desired position by changing the light tile relative to the dummy tile.</p><p> To accomplish the wall tiling process, at least one plug of the illuminated tile system is pierced through the back panel so as to make electrical contact with the at least one conductive layer of the back panel. It is necessary to This penetration can be made before the dummy tile is attached to the back panel (step c) or after it has been removed from the back panel (step d). This first modification has the advantage that the mortar or adhesive that can be provided on the back panel on which the plug is to be fitted remains flexible.</p><p> After the plug has been fixed, the optical tile can be attached at the location of the plug, for example by attaching the optical tile directly to the plug and / or to the associated back panel.</p><p> These and other aspects of the invention will be clarified and explained with reference to the examples described below. These examples are given as examples with the help of the accompanying drawings.</p>

<figref num="1">The cross section of the surface of the wall covered by the illuminated tile system according to the present invention is schematically shown.</figref><figref num="2">The cross section through the plug and the bottom of the optical tile of the system in Figure 1 is shown in detail.</figref><figref num="3">Figure 1 shows three consecutive steps in the fabrication of the tile system.</figref>

Similar reference numerals in the accompanying drawings refer to the same or similar components.

For example, the tiles and mosaics found in the bathroom give a good degree of freedom in incorporating lighting, where "mosaic" is by definition a regular (typically small) paving stone. Or it is an irregular pattern. In this case, an LED can be used as the light source. It is even more preferable to use an OLED as the light source to avoid the characteristics of a point light source, which means --Uniform light, --Extremely thin thickness, --Wide area, --Easy dimmable, --Cold surface, --Color variability, --Various forms (eg letters, symbols), and --Variable off appearance, It provides the advantage.

When trying to incorporate a light source into a tile or mosaic, you will face the following problems: -Pre-installation of the light source is not practically possible as accurate positioning must be known for the placement of the tiles to be very rigorous. -Furthermore, the wire cannot be placed behind the paving stones because the space behind the tiles is limited. The bend groove for the wire into the wall is too difficult and costly to be practical. --Hiding the wires at the seams between the tiles is disadvantageous because the area with the wires is visible after grouting the seams.

This problem described above is almost always a relatively large number of light sources (typically m).²It is exacerbated by the fact that it is greater than 10 per). Therefore, a large amount of cables must be handled and a large amount of space is required.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a cross section of an illuminated tile system 100 according to the present invention that addresses the above problems. The illuminated tile system 100 has three basic components.

As a first component, it has at least one back panel 10. The back panel 10 consists of an insulating material 11 (electrically and optionally acoustically and / or thermally) in which two parallel conductive layers 12, 13 are embedded. Typically, the entire area of the wall 1 is covered by such a back panel 10 in a seamless manner, with the corresponding conductive layers of adjacent back panels 10 electrically connected. This can be achieved, for example, by the staples 41, 42 schematically shown in FIG. 1, or preferably by some type of side connector.

The thickness of the back panel 10 is preferably in the range of 10 to 50 mm and typically has a value of 20 mm. The area of the back panel 10 is usually several times larger than the area of a conventional tile (eg 1 m).²). The back panel 10 preferably has some flexibility that allows it to adapt to the contours of the wall.

In the example shown, the back panel 10 typically has two conductive layers 12, 13, but may have one or more such layers. This type of back panel is commercially available (eg, SAITEC, CHALLANS, FRANCE), eg, French Patent No. 2718197A1, French Patent No. 2712377A1, German Patent No. 29810124U1, or International. It is described in Patent Application Publication No. 94/03947A2 pamphlet.

As a second component, the illuminated tile system 100 has a plug 20, which can be penetrated into the back panel 10 at the desired position and electrically into the conductive layers 12, 13. Have a task of contacting the target. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the plug 20 has two protrusions 21 and 23 extending within the back panel 10, each of which is in contact with a different conductive layer. The protrusions 21 and 23 are connected by a bridge 22 having two outwardly facing holes 24. The plug 20 is typically made of plastic with metallic electrical reeds embedded as needed.

As a third component, the illuminated tile system 100 has an optical tile 30 with an OLED 31 mounted within a housing 34. Two pins 32, which can be inserted into the holes 24 of the plug 20 in a shape-fitting manner to attach the light tile 30 to the plug 20, project at the rear of the housing 34 towards the wall. As described below, pin 32 further provides electrical contact to the power source for the OLED 31.

The optical tile also has several circuits 33 with the electrical components needed to drive the OLED. Thus, circuit 33 has, for example, a DC / current converter topology or dimming means.

FIG. 1 further shows that the light tile 30 is embedded between the conventional tiles 2 attached to the back panel 10 by some mortar or adhesive 3. Note that wall 1 can be anything that is to be covered by tiles or mosaics, for example, a narrowly defined (vertical) wall, floor, ceiling, roof or object. ..

The wall 1 can be something that is to be covered by tiles or mosaics, for example, a (vertical) wall, floor, ceiling, roof or object in the narrow sense. In a mosaic, the typical size of tile 2 and / or light tile 30 is about 2 cm x 2 cm.

FIG. 2 details the plug 20 and the corresponding bottom of the light tile 30. In this example, the plug 20 has two protrusions 21, 23 that can be penetrated through the back panel. The two protrusions 21 and 23 are so different that the electrical contacts 25 and 26 will come into contact with the different conductive layers 12 and 13 of the back panel 10 when the plug is fully penetrated by the back panel 10. Has electrical contacts 25, 26 at height. The contacts 25 and 26 can be rings on the outside of the protrusions 21 and 23, and are internally electrical to the "plug terminals" 27 and 28 located in the holes 24 on the outside of the plug 20, respectively. It is connected to the.

As already mentioned, the light tile 30 has a corresponding pin 32 on its bottom side that fits into the hole 24. The pin 32 comes into contact with the plug terminals 27, 28 when the pin 32 is inserted into the hole 24, and is internally connected to the OLED 31 and / or the circuit connected to the OLED 31. It has "tile terminals" 35 and 36.

Note that the particular shape and size of the plug 20 may differ from the embodiments shown in the figure. Thus, the plug may have, for example, exactly one protrusion (having two electrodes). In addition, terminals 27, 28 and 35, 36 are optionally designed for wireless energy transport (eg as a coil) and can be embedded within an insulating material.

The back panel 10 is connected to a power supply 43 that should generate the correct voltage and current. Therefore, this must be adjusted to the requirements of the optical module. Preferably, a DC voltage is used. This voltage can also be used to dimm the optical module. Possibility regarding dimming --Changing the supply voltage as described above, --Installation of one or more additional power lines, --Overlapping communication signals (power line communication) and --Wireless communication (eg Bluetooth, RF, etc.), Is.

In the following, preferred methods for producing the tiles of FIG. 1 are described with reference to FIG.

With reference to FIG. 3a, wall 1 needs to be prepared first before the tiled process begins. This preparation results in a flat surface. A conductive back panel 10 is adhered to the prepared surface and later transports an electric current over the wall. All panels are interconnected by connectors brought into the panel (preferably as side connections).

After this adhesive is applied, the next step shown in FIG. 3b is the actual tiling process with conventional tile 2 including grout filling. At the location where the light source is needed, the dummy tile 50 is inserted as a placeholder that is chemically inert to the adhesive 3. The dummy tile 50 can be made, for example, from plastic with rubber properties (as part of the molding) and / or from wood. It retains the standard for this tiled process and is subsequently used to place this light source.

This figure suggests that this dummy tile 50 is inserted in this position from the beginning instead of the traditional tile, but first fills this place with the traditional tile and then this It is also possible to remove the tile and replace it with the dummy tile. The latter method can be applied, in particular, to mosaics in which multiple tiles are attached to the grid, in which case the complete grid is first attached to the back panel and then a single tile is removed from the grid. , It may be advantageous to replace these with dummy tiles.

Once the tile or mosaic is attached and the grout is provided, the next step shown in FIG. 3c can begin. This dummy tile 50 is removed and a conductive plug 20 (one or more per OLED) is located within the required wall. These plugs 20 are inserted like staples. They make electrical contact with the conductive layers in the back panel on the outside of themselves and provide electrical and mechanical contact with their interior.

Note that the plug 20 can optionally be inserted into the back panel before the dummy tile 50 is installed. This has the advantage that the mortar or adhesive that can be provided on the back panel is still flexible and therefore easy to permeate.

The final step is to place the optical tile 30 with the OLED in the plug 20 to create electrical contact with the conductive layer. Now that this installation is in place, the power supply and driver 43 can be installed to light this installation. Dimming can be achieved by varying the voltage applied to the back panel.

In summary, the above method --The back panel installation steps, including the power supply installation. --The steps to install the mosaic tiles, --The step of removing these tiles in a position where the optical module must be installed later (or freely leave these positions from the beginning), --Dummy installation steps (unimportant glue can be removed) --Drying process steps, --The step of replacing the dummy with the optical module, --Steps to fill the groove with grout, Includes.

The illuminated tile system 100 described above --This is flat and -This is measurable, --No need for separate wires for each light source --The light source can be located everywhere, there is no alignment problem, The placement of the light source can be made after the tiled process, --Replacement of the light source is easy, --This solution will be useful in the future, It has the advantage of.

Of course, many variations of the particular embodiment described above are possible, eg, for example. --This back panel can include a third (or additional) conductive layer used for data communication to add dynamics to the light source. Data communications, as known from other power / data communications combinations used in wired, can also be added on the two conductive layers. --Data communication can be done wirelessly, --Dimming can also be done in other ways (eg PWM or AM) or via data communication. Color variability can be introduced via data communication or via a separate conductor on the back panel.

The above-mentioned OLEDs with socket-based construction are general lighting, decorative lighting, lighting for public spaces, indoor lighting, outdoor lighting, urban beautification, ambient lighting, generation of tiled areas, tiled. It can be used in tiled objects, mosaics, etc.

Finally, in the present application, the word "having" does not exclude other components or steps, and the singular component does not exclude multiple such components, but is single. It should be pointed out that the processor or other unit of the above can realize the function of some means. The present invention is in any new characteristic feature and in any combination of characteristic features. Furthermore, the reference numerals in the appended claims shall not be construed as limiting these ranges.