P08605: Tile Layout Tool

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Table of Contents

1 Project Introduction
2 Administrative Information
3 Tile Layout Tool Family Projects
4 Team Information
5 Industry Information

Project Introduction

One summer day in 2007, Eula Dozier arrived on campus at Rochester Institute of Technology. With prototype in hand, he was determined to find someone that could further develop his project from the sketches he created years prior. After starting off on the wrong foot towards the area of the National Technical Institute of the Deaf and a wrong turn into the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences, he later arrived at Kate Gleason College of Engineering. It was here that the fateful meeting occurred with Mechanical Engineering department head Dr. Edward Hensel. Weeks later, Dr. Hensel pitched the opportunity to develop Mr. Dozier's prototype to an eager crowd of Design of Project Management students. Five students jumped to the opportunity and I am one of them.

Mr. Dozier created an innovation that has potential to create a great ripple in the stagnant tile tooling market. When installing tile flooring, a perimeter ring of no tile remains outside the central field tiles in which full tiles cannot fit. The standard is to place a second tile on top of the outermost tiles which then has the wall profile traced onto it with use of a third tile. Mr. Dozier's device (protected by Patent 60890638) traces the wall profile of a perimeter void onto the tiles laid out to be measured. The tiles are then cut in standard fashion along the marking to fit into voids. The device not only replaces the need for a third tile, it also reduces the effort and produces better scribing of non parallel wall profiles. The central focus of this project is to capitalize on the breakthrough innovation of Mr. Dozier and develop a product that significantly decreases the tile installation effort.

The Dual-Function Tile Tool

This website documents a Project Readiness Plan (PRP) to release this project into RIT's Multidisciplinary Engineering Design Program. The plan is to develop a prototype that measures the gap distance and cuts a VCT tile to best fit into the gap. It will move along the field tile edge and accomplished the results with digital sensors and mechanical controls.

Please enjoy the site,

Reid Allen Williamson

Project Lead

Mechanical Engineering - RIT '08

ReidAllenWilliamson@gmail.com

Administrative Information

Project Name: Dual-Function Tile Perimeter Layout Tool
Project Number: P08605
Project Family: Tile Tool Projects
Track: Entrepreneurship and Business Development
Start Term: 2007-2
End Term: 2007-3
Project Lead: Reid Allen Williamson
Primary Customer: Mr. Eula Dozier
Faculty Guide: Prof. Wellin
EE Faculty Consultant: Dr. Hoople
ME Faculty Consultant: Prof. Landschoot

Tile Layout Tool Family Projects

Check out the group commercial! [(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY_Wbk_8T-U)]

DPM Presentations

P08601 - Design for Production

Lead - Paul Gaylo

Site (http://edge.rit.edu/content/P08601/public/Home)

P08603 - Redesign of Tile Marking Tool for Mass Production

PRP developed by Jeremy Schiele

Lead - T.B.D.

Site(http://edge.rit.edu/content/P08603/public/Home)

P08604 - Manual VCT Measuring Device

Lead - Cortney Ross

Site(http://edge.rit.edu/content/P08604/public/Home)

P08602 - Automated Tile Cutting Device

Lead - Ryan Hellems

Site(http://edge.rit.edu/content/P08602/public/Home)

P08605 - Dual-Function Layout Tool

Lead - Reid Williamson

Site(http://edge.rit.edu/content/P08605/public/Home)

(YOU ARE ON THIS SITE)

Team Information

Prototype

Watch a Video (http://people.rit.edu/raw9417/PrototypeClip.mpg)

How It Works (jpeg)

Isometric View (jpeg)

Side View (jpeg)

Front View (jpeg)

Photography by Ryan Hellems (P08602)

How It Works editing by Reid Williamson (P08605)

View Patent Application (pdf)

Prototype Replication (5 pcs)

Replica_Shop_1 (jpeg)

Replica_Shop_2 (jpeg)

Replica_block (jpeg)

Photography by Paul Gaylo (P08601)

**Hours of Prototype Replication Effort**
Name	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Total
Cortney	0.5	0	0	0	0	0.5
Jeremy	0.5	0	0	0	0	0.5
Paul	0.5	3	3	0	4	10.5
Ryan	0.5	4	0	4	0	8.5
Reid	0	5	0	3	0	8

Industry Information

Online Organizations

Tile Magazine (http://www.tilemagonline.com/)

Tile Council of North America, Inc (http://www.tileusa.com/)

Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (http://www.ctdahome.org/)

Tile Businesses

Sail-On Carpets - Flooring Showroom (http://www.sailoncarpets.com/)

Tile Shop - Ceramic & Stone Showroom (http://www.tileshop.com/)

United Carpet Brokers - Commercial Installers (http://rochester.citysearch.com/profile/7795037/rochester_ny/united_carpet_brokers_incorporated.html)

The Tile Room (http://thetileroom.com/)

Max Pies Flooring America (http://www.flooringamerica.com/)

Tile Manufacturers

Mannington Mills (http://www.mannington.com/)

DalTile (http://www.daltileproducts.com/)

Armstrong (http://www.armstrong.com/)

American Olean (http://americanolean.com/index.cfm?)

Installation Guides

How to Install Ceramic Floor Tile (http://www.tileshop.com/diy/Floorinstall.pdf)

How to Install Ceramic Wall Tile (http://www.tileshop.com/diy/Wallinstall.pdf)

How to Install Ceramic Tile Countertop & Backsplash (http://www.tileshop.com/diy/Backsplashinstall.pdf)

Instructions on proper VCT installations (http://www.mannington.com/commercial/technical/installation.asp, select "Essentials")

Additional Tile Info

The NTCA Tile Estimator (http://www.ceramic-tile-floor.info/te/ntca/tileestimatorNTCA.html)

Common Types of Tiles (bitmap)

Comparison of Vinyl, Linoleum, & Cork Tiles (pdf)

Life Cycle Cost for Floor Finishes (http://www.tileusa.com/costcomparison.htm)

TileIndustryTradeData(2006).pdf

Useful Vocabulary

Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT) - An improved sibling of linoleum tiles that is more commonly used. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_composition_tiles)

Quarter-Round Molding - A molding used to cover gaps between wall and flooring. (http://www.armstrong.com/resflram/na/home/en/us/popup23762.html)

Backsplash - Usually the wall area at the back of a counter extending the full length. (http://www.ontariotile.com/definitions.html)

Field Tiles - Flat tiles, in contrast to trim tiles that are shaped to turn corners or define the edges of an installation. (http://www.ontariotile.com/definitions.html)

Subfloor - Usually plywood, OSB, or another sheet material covering the floor joists. (http://www.ontariotile.com/definitions.html)

Scribing - Shaping a tile to best fit the surface which it touches; for example, to fit a tile snugly around a corner or door jam.

Home

Project Introduction

Administrative Information

Tile Layout Tool Family Projects

Team Information

Planning

Concept Development

System Level Design

Detail Design

Testing and Refinement

Published Documents

Industry Information