OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention refers to a grid floor and more specifically to a platform forming the floor or tread surface applicable for covering an empty space, the platform being made up of a metal frame and a series of multiperforated plates that rest on the frame and are joined to one another so that they are perfectly secure and constitute the horizontal surface forming the platform or the actual floor.

[0002] It is the object of the invention to provide a new grid floor applicable in numerous fields or sectors of the market, such as for example, to form the floor of a cubicle for washing domestic animals by hand, just to mention one of its multiple applications, with frame, installation and use characteristics that offer a series of advantages in respect of other already known platforms or grid floors.

PRIOR ART

[0003] Although grid floors or platforms forming a tread surface are amply known in a variety of uses and/or applications, the construction of grid floors on the basis of metal plates with holes for the passage of water and dirt present a series of problems and drawbacks that affect the installation, the actual constitution of the floor or platform and even its functional character.

[0004] In fact, conventional grid floors are sometimes made up of a single piece if the space to be covered is not excessively large, with the drawback that, if damaged, it has to be replaced as a whole, which involves a considerable financial expense.

[0005] In other cases, although the floor is made up of plates with holes or slots, they are assembled by simply laying them on a base structure consisting of cross rails all fastened to a perimeter frame, which means that the fit is not perfect and on one side it is too loose and on the other too tight, besides the fact that in the majority of cases the slots forming the actual grid are rectangular, which, in the event of using the platform or floor as a deck for washing domestic animals, they may get their hooves caught in these grids or even between the gaps appearing due to the incorrect placement of the plates, with the resultant harm that may be occasioned or caused to the animal.

[0006] Furthermore, in platforms or grid floors of this type, means are not known which, once the whole set of plates forming them are installed, assure their use so that they cannot come apart, although they may be dismantled at any time.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The grid floor proposed by the invention overcomes the afore-mentioned problem by means of a series of innovations and improvements introduced into a structure based on the general concept referred to in the previous paragraph.

[0008] More specifically, the grid platform or floor of the invention is of the type formed of a series of plates with grooves which are installed alongside one another in a frame, so that on the basis of this general concept the grid floor of the invention presents a series of improvements and innovations that are set forth below.

[0009] First of all, one of the innovations presented by the grid floor is that the plates that are going to make up the support surface have their two largest faces, namely the upper and lower ones, exactly the same as each other, which means that the plate is symmetrical and may be used on either one side or the other, so that the plates may be positioned differently in order to produce different external configurations with regard to the surface formed by means of their appropriate arrangement.

[0010] Another novelty is that these slotted plates have a V-section groove on two of the adjacent sides and a complementary shoulder on the opposite two sides in order that the plates may be coupled laterally in the form of a matched joint.

[0011] Furthermore, the design of the plates is such that they are all quadrangular, with the same dimensions, and the slots are executed to form parallel alignments in the same direction always, with the result that, by virtue of the symmetry of both faces and the means of coupling by the afore-mentioned matched system, it is possible to install the plates with their slots in perpendicular directions to form different design arrangements since, although they are the same, they may be positioned at right angles to one another.

[0012] Another novelty is that the frame in which the above-mentioned plates are installed has an inner perimeter flange on its underside where the actual plates rest, with the special feature that this frame has an intermediate longitudinal member consisting of an inverted “T” shape, on which the horizontal flanges form the supports for the edges of the plates that are positioned on either side of the intermediate central divider, resting on the other edge on the opposite side of the frame lower flange.

[0013] Another novel feature is that the above-mentioned shape forming the middle divider of the frame is supplemented with a cover that acts as a finish element for the upper edge of said shape and which runs all along it, with the exception of one of its ends where the different plates making up the grid floor are inserted and removed.

[0014] The aforesaid finish element or cover installed on the shape making up the middle divider of the frame represents a means of fastening the plates once they are fitted, while this means of fastening is supplemented with another which secures the plates definitively to prevent them becoming detached, this latter means of fastening being composed of a lock plate that is fixed to the respective side of the frame shape where the plates are inserted and removed, said shape overlapping the upper edge of the last plate installed so that it is secured in its position, just like the others, thereby preventing the floor from coming apart.

[0015] Another innovative feature of the grid floor is that the slots in the plates are elongated but with ends with a rounded outline, with the result that this feature, combined with the fact that each plate is endowed with a suitable thickness, means that when they are used for existing floors or platforms, for instance in cubicles for washing domestic animals by hand, the hooves and legs of these are not harmed because the risk is eliminated of their getting trapped in the holes or slots in the plates.