GB2598882A

GB2598882A - Measurement device

Info

Publication number: GB2598882A
Application number: GB2007479.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Smith Sam
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-05-20
Filing date: 2020-05-20
Publication date: 2022-03-23
Anticipated expiration: 2040-05-20
Also published as: GB2598882B; GB202007479D0

Abstract

The device (20, Figure 1) enables establishment of a designated location for an aperture on an appliance 10, such as tap holes on a bath. The designated location has a defined displacement in a reference direction from a reference feature of the appliance. The device includes first and second elements 22, 24 which are relatively movable in the reference direction. The first element has a) a projection 40 extending transversely to the reference direction which engages with the reference feature to establish an origin from which displacement is measured, b) index marks (l1, l2, l3, l4, Figure 4) spaced apart in the reference direction, and c) a dimension mark S1-S4 for each index mark specifying an appliance dimension to which each index mark relates. The second element has a datum mark D and at least one aperture mark A0 at a predetermined offset from the datum mark. When, by relative motion of the first and second elements, the datum mark is brought into register with a particular index mark, the aperture mark is at the designated location for the appliance dimension specified in connection with that index mark. The first and second elements may move linearly relative to each other.

Description

MEASUREMENT DEVICE

The present invention relates to a measurement device, typically employed in the course of installing appliances, such as bathroom or kitchen plumbing furniture, for example baths, basins and the like.

An example of the utility of embodiments of the present invention is readily appreciated by reference to design trends for bathrooms, for example, which are moving towards increasing flexibility and choice for consumers. Customers may require baths (say) to be installed with a variety of different tap configurations. They may wish for taps to be installed on a wall adjacent to the location of the bath; or, alternatively, they may wish to have the taps to be mounted on the side of the bath. They may wish to have a 'mono' tap in which hot and cold water feeds are fed into a single mixer tap; a bath filler and shower mixer; or a more traditional, separate hot and cold taps. Manufacturers have sought to meet such demands by supplying baths and other appliances which are 'undrilled', that is to say baths which do not, on delivery, include holes in which to mount taps. In this way a single appliance may meet the demands of a customer wishing to have wall-mounted taps, a mono tap requiring only a single aperture to receive hot and cold feeds, or traditional, separate hot and cold taps.

Where the taps (or, tap, in the case of a mono) are to be mounted on a bath, the plumber installing the bath must therefore drill holes to accommodate them. This is an exercise requiring care and precision since the location of the tap(s) must be carefully measured and marked. The present invention provides a measuring device enabling easy location of the drilling sites and, thereby, avoids what might otherwise be costly errors.

Various devices are known. GB 2536874 discloses a measuring device for placement of plumbing fittings; K1R101254151, US5848478 and EP0798085 disclose other prior art devices.

The present invention provides alternatives to the above which enable rapid and reliable establishment of locations for drilling holes in appliances such as plumbing appliances including baths and sinks, or other appliances in other fields such as automotive installations (for example to establish holes for installing external ariels) or in any other field where precise drilling locations are rapidly and quickly required to be established.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a bath and an embodiment of measuring device according to the present invention. Figs. 2(a) and 2(b) are, respectively, plan views and side views of the device in Fig 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the device of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a detail of Figure 3; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of a P-shaped bath illustrating a particular and relevant feature thereof to the utility of embodiments of device according to the present invention.

Referring now to Fig. 1, an appliance 10, which in the present illustrated embodiment has the form of a bath suitable for use in an ordinary bathroom, is illustrated. It has a substantially rectangular form. It can be seen from the picture that the left-hand end of the bath is the end at which the plug hole is located and, therefore, is the end at which it would be most usual to locate the taps. It can, however, also can be seen that the bath does not include any apertures into which the taps may be mounted.

This is because, in accordance with modern vogues, consumers may wish to have the bath installed in a variety of manners -one of which may be to mount the taps into a wall adjacent to which the bath is located. For this reason, the bath is supplied without any apertures into which taps may be mounted. Accordingly, where -for example -a consumer wishes to mount the taps on the bath in the traditional manner, apertures must be drilled by a plumber who is installing the bath. Precisely locating those apertures is a difficult and time consuming job; and one which carries with it significant potential expense if done incorrectly.

The present invention provides an embodiment of device, in the form of a jig 20, which enables precise and rapid location of the apertures in a "reference direction". In the illustrated embodiment, the reference direction is across the width of the bath illustrated in Fig. 1. Once correctly located, apertures can then be drilled at those locations in order for taps to be mounted on the bath. Referring now to Figs. 2(a) and 2(b) the jig 20 comprises first and second elements which are movable relative to each other. When the jig is correctly mounted upon the bath the intention is that the first and second elements 22, 24 will move relative to each other along the reference direction thereby to enable suitable establishment of the location of the apertures it is desired to drill. In the present embodiment the first element has the form of an elongate first planar panel 22 upon which a second (slightly smaller) elongate panel 24 is mounted. The first and second panels 22, 24 are mounted for relative linear motion by means of a track 25 in which the second panel 24 sits and along which it may slide. Thus, when the jig 20 is correctly positioned on an appliance such as, for example, the bath illustrated in Fig. 1, the first and second panels 22, 24 are adapted for relative linear motion in the reference direction -here the width of the bath.

Self-evidently, the jig 20 will only operate accurately to establish a suitable location for apertures to be drilled if the jig itself is correctly aligned with an appliance. To this end, the jig is provided with first and second projections 34, 40, which extend laterally to the reference direction. Thus, in the present embodiment, projection 40, located at one end of the first panel 20 extends downwardly, and projection 34 also extends downwardly from the mid-point of the side of the first panel. The downward projection 40 thus enables, by virtue of locating it in correct abutment with a reference feature of the appliance, the establishment of a reference origin for measurement in the reference direction. In the present embodiment the reference feature is the side of the bath and the reference origin is established by abutting the downwardly extending projection 40 with the side of the bath from which measurements for the location of the aperture can be made; while the correct abutment of the projection 34 serves to align the jig correctly relative to the bath so as to ensure that the track 25 extends along the reference direction (and thereby ensuring that the first and second panels move relative to each other in the reference direction).

Preferably (though not essentially), the jig 20 includes a third element upon which the first element 22 is mounted for relative linear motion also in the reference direction. In the present embodiment the third element is likewise provided by an elongate, linear panel 28 which comprises a sequence of hooks 30 that serve to retain engagement between the first panel 22 and the third panel and which maintain alignment between the two. The third panel 28 likewise incorporates a lateral downwardly extending projection 40 which assists in snug and secure alignment of the jig to be sized to the precise width of the bath. The third panel 28 is not essential for the operation of the jig but provides additional location and stability and is therefore a preferred feature.

Referring now to Fig. 4, a series of index marks 11,12, 13,14 each having the form of an arrowhead are located, spaced apart in the reference direction, on the first panel 22. Each of the index marks 11-14 is associated with a corresponding dimension mark S1-54. The index marks each serve to indicate the location of a centreline (widthwise) of a bath whose widthwise dimension is indicated in the corresponding dimension mark S1-54. Thus, in the present illustrated embodiment, the index mark 14 is associated with a dimension mark S4 which, in the illustrated embodiment is, 700. The dimension mark S4 therefore indicates that its corresponding index mark 14 denotes the centreline of a bath whose width is 700mm. Dimension marks 53,52 and Si indicate that index marks 13,12, and 11 denote the centrelines of baths whose widths are, respectively, 750, 800 and 850mm wide.

The second panel incorporates a datum mark D, together with a series of aperture marks. One of the aperture marks, AO is precisely centred coincidentally with the datum mark D. Aperture mark AO denotes the correct location of, for example, a mono tap -these being most usually located coincident with the centre line of the bath as measured in the reference direction. Further pairs of aperture marks Al, Al'; A2, A2' (and so on) are provided on the second panel. Each pair of aperture marks denotes the designated location of a pair of apertures, symmetrically established either side of the datum mark D. The spacing, or 'offset' of a given pair of aperture marks from the datum mark D is indicated by an offset mark associated with each aperture mark. Thus, by way of example in Fig. 4, aperture mark Al' has an offset mark 01' which specifies the offset of the aperture Al' from the datum mark and thereby indicates the spacing between the apertures Al and Al' for the taps (further offset marks for Aperture marks A2, AT and so on have not been indicated by reference numerals in Fig. 4 to avoid cluttering the drawing).

In use, the first panel 22 is placed upon the upper surface of the bath with the projections 40 and 34 lying flush against the width wise edge and length wise edge of the bath respectively. This ensures that the jig 20 is then correctly aligned so that measurements made by it represent measurements from the correct physical origin -i.e. the edge of the bath. The installer of the bath will know its width (typically because they are the person most likely to have purchased it). The second panel 24 is then moved along the track 25 until the datum mark D is brought in to register with the index mark 11-14 corresponding to the dimension mark 51-54 which specifies the correct bath width. At this point, each of the aperture marks AO, Al, Al'-A4, A4' is correctly located relative to the bath to signify the correct, properly centred locations of correctly located alternative, potential locations for bath tap apertures -with the various offsets of those potential locations being specified in the corresponding offset marks 01, 01'-04, 04'.

Preferably a plurality of detents are provided to ensure that the first and second panels 22,24 remain properly located relative to each other when the datum mark D has been moved into register with one of the index marks 11-14. These detents are provided by laterally projecting lugs 60 on the second panel 24 each of which extends into correspondingly shaped recesses 62 located on the first panel 22 at the sides of the track 25 (the lugs and corresponding slots 60, 62 are not illustrated separately in fig.4 due to the constraints of illustration). Movement of the second panel 24 along the track such that the detents move into and out of engagement is facilitated by the provision of a small degree of lateral play between the second panel 24 and the sides of the track 25 and also a degree of elasticity of the materials used for the jig.

The embodiment of jig illustrated is suitable for use with many different forms of bath. Referring now to Fig. 5 a P-shaped bath is illustrated. P-shaped baths (and also L-shaped baths -though the latter are not illustrated here) usually require taps to fitted on the P -or Las the case may be -shaped side, if they are not wall mounted. In the present embodiment, it is desired to locate the taps at the right hand end of the bath shown in fig.5. It can be seen that the arcuate bulge at this end results in a reduction available clearance Cat the right hand end for locating the lateral downward projections 40 which extend from the first panel 22 (or, in the case of a left-handed P-shaped bath, the downward projection 40 from the third panel 28). Accordingly, the downward projections 40 at the ends of the first and third panels 22,28 incorporate a cutaway 42 to accommodate that curvature of the P-shaped bath while ensuring that correct alignment of the jig may still be maintained by means of those projections 40.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A device which enables establishment of a designated location for an aperture on an appliance, the designated location having a defined displacement in a reference direction from a reference feature of the appliance, the device comprising: first and second elements which are relatively movable in the reference direction; the first element having: a). a projection extending transversely to the reference direction which engages with the reference feature to establish an origin from which displacement is measured, b). a plurality of index marks, spaced apart in the reference direction, and, c). a dimension mark for each index mark specifying an appliance dimension to which each index mark relates; the second element having a datum mark and at least one aperture mark at a predetermined offset from the datum mark; wherein when, by relative motion of the first and second elements, the datum mark is brought into register with a particular index mark, the aperture mark is at the designated location for the appliance dimension specified in connection with that index mark.
2. A device according to claim 1 wherein the first and second elements are adapted to move linearly relative to each other.
3. A device according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the second element has at least one pair of aperture marks, spaced apart in the reference direction equidistant of the datum mark and wherein the spacing of the marks corresponds to spacing of the apertures into which, for example, taps may be mounted.
4. A device according to claim 3 wherein the second element has a plurality of pairs of aperture marks, marks of each pair having a unique spacing.
5. A device according to any one of the preceding claims further comprising, on the second element, an offset mark for an aperture mark, the offset mark specifying an offset from the datum mark of the aperture mark with which the offset mark is associated.
6. A device according to anyone of the preceding claims wherein each index mark corresponds to a centre point in the reference direction of an appliance and each dimension mark indicates the total extent of the appliance in the reference direction.
7. A device according to anyone of the preceding claims further comprising at least one detent acting between the first and second elements to locate the first and second elements against relative motion in the reference direction when index and datum marks are in register.
8. A device according to claim 7 comprising a plurality of detents, such that each detent acts to locate the first and second elements against relative motion in the reference direction when one of the index marks is in register with the datum mark.
9. A device according to claim 8 wherein the first and second elements are substantially planar and are adapted for relative linear longitudinal motion in the reference direction, and wherein each detent is provided by a lug on one of the first and second elements extending laterally to the reference in the plane of the first and second elements and a small recess on the other of the first and second elements into which the lug can extend.
10. A device according to claim 9 wherein an additional, small clearance is provided in the lateral direction to permit, together with elasticity of the materials used for the first and second elements, engagement and disengagement of the detents.
11. A device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the projection is planar, located at one end of the first element and extends downwardly from the device, transverse to the linear and lateral directions of the device, such that the projection is adapted to engage the side of the appliance thereby to ensure that one of the index marks denotes the centre of the appliance in the reference direction.
12. A device according to claim 11 wherein the downwardly-extending projection has a cutaway part to accommodate curvature of a P-shaped bath.
13. A device according to anyone of the preceding claims further comprising a third element, wherein the first element is mounted on the third element for relative motion between the first and third elements, and wherein a further transverse projection is located at an end of the third element, distal to the transverse projection on the first element.