Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The invention deals with applicator tools for making
permanently joined seams in floor and wall coverings, which seams
are stronger, be-tter in appearance, and of longer life, than seams
made by any means known in the prior art. The invention is also
believed to be more practical and convenient to use than other
flooring applicator tools.
Prior art techniques for joining seams in flooring and
similar materials have failed to provide a positive means of
opening the seam between the material being joined, nor does prior
art apparatus permit a positive means of wetting the edges of the
flooring material being joined, with a sealant solution. Some
prior art seam joining techniques utilize applicators that move
the flooring materials apart only by a downward force on a tool
having a knife-like member projecting from the bottom thereof,
which requires a strong downward -force on -the tool, and its
projection, while the flooring materials are flat on the floor.
It has proved moderately practical to use this type of prior art
apparatus only with cushioned vinyl f]ooring material which is
a relatively so-ft material. The gap force in material such as
cushioned vinyl flooring, however, is of relatively short length,
and consequently the joining solution which must be used must have
a much higher solvent content, as opposed to the longer seam gap
created by the subject apparatus, during operation, which permits
use of a joining solu-tion having a relatively low solvent content.
One of the advantages of applicant's invention therefore
is that joining solution may incorporate the same base material as
the flooring material or other material being joined, and have a
relatively high content o-f this material, and pigment, relative to
the quantity of solvent employed in the joining solution.
Following seaming of material with applicant's apparatus,
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therefore, all of the solvent will relatively quickly evaporate
from the joint created, and the seam so created becomes indis-
tinguishable in appearance, from the adjacent material. Such
seam, in addition, has the same strength as the -flooring material
and is equally waterproof. Joints made with other available
apparatus generally retain a clearly visible seam, and moreover,
the seams so created are not as strong.
If prior art seaming apparatus is used with a joining
solution having a relatively low viscosity, such solution will not
flow to an adequate depth in the seam o-f the material being joined,
because the seam is open for such a relatively short time, and for
such a relatively short length at any moment in time, which results
in a seam with much of the joining solution on the top surface of
the material being joined, where it is quickly worn off.
With prior art apparatus flooring materials other than
cushioned vinyl cannot effectively be -forced apart to produce a
seam gap, and it is common practice to pour joining solution on the
top o-f the closed seam o-f the flooring material. The amount of
joining solution that penetrates the seam is little or none, and
the joining solution on top o-f the flooring material is Norn off
quickly because it protrudes upwardly.
Another method of joining flooring or similar materials
is by the use of an applicator tool which heats and melts the
edges of the flooring or other materials, filling the seam gap
with melted filler rod. A seam made by this method is so wide
and discoloured that it is often necessary to arrange the seams
so that they occur in a portion o-~ a pattern, in an effort to
camouflage the visible seam. Further, with heat seaming, there
is dif-ficulty controlling tool temperatures during application,
and joints may be made at too high a temperature resulting in
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scorched ancl widened seams; or the joints are made at too low
a temperature resulting in inadequate fusion of the filler rod to
the flooring material.
Another method of joining flooring material seams is
with the application of epoxy to the sub-flooring. The epoxy is
applied to the sub-floor in a band that is several thicknesses
o-f the flooring material wide on each side of the seam, and the
-flooring materials are then pressed onto the sub-floor. Some of
the epoxy is thereby forced into the seam to bond the flooring
materials together. The seam bond between the epoxy and the
flooring materials, however, are not waterproof, the bond between
the epoxy and the flooring ma-terial is re]atively weak, and
because epoxy is much stiffer than the flooring material the bond
between the two often breaks under traffic.
The seaming apparatus invented by applicant is believed
to overcome all o-f the shortcomings of the prior art devices and
methods o-f seaming floor and wall coverings and other similar
materials.
A principal object of the invention is to provide a
sealant applica-tor for joining planar materials comprising: a
unitary body having means at one end adap-ted for engagement with
a sealant container; said body having a -foot at its end remote
from said container-engaging means; said body having a leg portion
between said container-engaging means and said -foot, said leg
being of smaller cross-section diemsnion than said foot; a conduit
within said body communicating at one end with said container-en-
gaging means and a-t its other end with said foo-t; whereby said
-foot may be moved under and along at least one edge of planar
material and sealant applied thereto.
A description of the invention will now be made with
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reference to the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sealant applicator
accord.ing to the invention, in use with a portion of flooring also
illustrated, and broken away;
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the apparatus of Figure l;
Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the apparatus of Figure l;
Figure 4 is a side elevation o-f the apparatus oL Figure l;
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a sealant applicator
for use adjacent a baseboard or base strip;
Figure 6 is a side elevation of the apparatus of Figure 5;
Figure 7 is a -front elevation of the apparatus of Figure 5;
Figure 8 is a perspective view o:E a sealant applicator
for base strips;
Figure 9 is a side elevation of the apparatus o-f Figure 10;
Figure 10 is a front elevation of the apparatus of Figure
8;
Figures 11 and 12 are top plans of the apparatus of
Figure 8; and
Figure 13 is a perspective view of a sealant applica-tor
for carpet edges.
Detailed reference will now be made to the accompanying
drawings wherein like reference numerals will identify like parts.
In Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, a unitary sealant applicator
for joining seams of planar material is indicated generally by the
reference numeral 10. Applicator 10 has a body portion 12 having
a central circular opening 1~, and an upper, unitary circular
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flange 16 adapted to be engaged by a screw cap 18 (see Figure 1)
of a container 20, usually o-f flexible material as is well under-
stood in the art, containing a supply of sealant composition.
Alternatively, flange 16 could be replaced by or include
a unitary cap device, threaded internally, adapted for screw
enagement with the mouth of a sealant container.
Projecting downwardly from body 12 of applicator 10 are
unitary central leg 22, and foo-t 24.
Foot 24 has a smooth, flat, bottom surface, beveled
upwardly at its leading edge 26 (see Figures 2 and ~), the upper
surface of -foot 24 slopes generally outwardly and downwardly away
from the center thereof, these surfaces 28 and 30 effectively
forming a wedge, in combination wi1h the beveled leading bottom
edge 26 thereof.
A tubular opening or conduit 32 communicates with the
interior o-E sealant container 20 at its upper end, and opens at
the bottom of leg 22 immediately above foot 24. A further
tube-like opening 34 is provided in foot 24 immediately below and
in alignment with tubular hole 32.
As is seen most clearly in Figures 1 and 2, leg 22 is
wedge shaped, having faces 22a and 22b at the bottom of the
leading edge of leg 22. A rectangular notch 36 separates the
trailing edges of foot 24 and leg 22.
Referring to Figure 1, -the applicator tool is illustrated
between elevated edges of two pieces of abut-ting flooring 38 and
~0, being bonded by -the applicator. The applicator is being
manually advanced in the direction of arrow 42. As the applicator
is moved in this direction, it will be seen that the edges of the
two pieces of flooring materials 38 and ~0 are lifted simultaneously
by the wedging action of surfaces 28 and 30 of foot 2~, causing
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the flooring materials to separate enough to enable a joining
solution flowing through hole 32 from the sealant container 20
to fully wet each edge of the two pieces of flooring material
38, 40.
The tapered or wedge shaped sides 22a and 22b of leg 22
easily force the edges of material 38, 40 apart, as the applicator
is advanced in the direction of arrow 42, and the tapered outer
surfaces 28, 30, of foot 24 similarly assist in slight elevation
of the flooring material 38, ~0, as the applicator is moved.
Sealant running from the end oE tubular conduit 32 thus ensures
effective contact with both edges of material 38, 40. Any excess
sealant will tend to flow through tubular opening 34 of foot 24,
to comp]ement the sealant already wetting both edges of material
38, 40.
The tapered toe 26 of bottom surface 2~ ensures that the
applicator will move relatively easily over any upward projections
encountered on the sub-floor being traversed. The material being
seamed should of course be pressed downwardly immediately behind
the applicator's travel, to ensure good sealan-t contact there-
between.
The applicator just described will travel relativelyeasily without the operator exerting downward or other pressure,
the top surfaces 28 and 30 of foot 24 preventing the applicator
being inadvertently pulled out o-f the seam being formed, unless
and until the two pieces oE material 38, 40, are separated to a
distance equal to the total width of oot 24, and in practice the
accidental removal of the tool is very infrequent. The contrast
with prior art devices now in use is dramatic, where the operator
requires strong manual downward pressure in order to project
sealant, however imperfectly, between the pieces o-f flooring
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materials being joined.
A modified applicator according to the invention is
illustra-ted in Figures 5, 6 and 7, the applicator disclosed being
adap~ed -~or use in bonding a -flooring material to a base s-trip,
baseboard, or the like, which has already been permanently glued
to a wall or the likeg base s~rip 44 being illustrated in Figure
4, and -flooring material 40, to be bonded in abutment thereto also
being illustrated.
The applicator has been modi-fied in its leg and foot
configuration, as opposed to the embodiment o:E Figures 1 through
4. As is seen most clearly in Figure 7 the bottom sur-face of Eoot
24 is stepped, so as to provide a vertical face 24a adapted to
slide along the edge o-f base strip 44, to which flooring material
40 is to be a-ffixed in close abutment. It will be further seen
that foot 24 extends only on one side oE leg 22, and has an upper
sur-face thereabove over which flooring material is elevated, as
the applicator is manually advanced in the direction of arrow 46.
A -recess 48 is provided in the trailing edge of leg 22 immediately
above the -top surface of foot 24 so as to engage the edge of
material 40 as the applicator is advanced, and to ensure that the
edge o-f material 40 is in full contact with the orifice 50 provided
therein, through which sealant flows from container 20, as already
described in connection with the embodiment o:E ~igure 1. It ~ill
be further noted that immediately below orifice 50, a tubular
opening extends to the bottom of foot 24, and opens to the ~ace
24a o-f the stepped side of foot 24. Thus, good sealant contact
is ensured with the edge of rnaterial 40, through orifice 50, and
with the edge of base strip 44. In this modified apparatus it
will be seen that the applicator slides with certainty along the
leading edge of base strip 44, and sealant is effectively applied
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to the edges of -Elooring material 40 and base strip 44, so as to
make a positive union therebetween.
The embodiment illustrated in Figures 8 through 12 is
intended to facilitate the bondi.ng of the bottom o-f a base strip
onto a flooring material.
The configuration of leg 22 and foot 24 illustrated in
Figures 8-12 have been modified for this purpose, and it will be
seen that the bottom face of foot 24 is a flat oval (see Figure 9),
and has a tapered outer edge 24b (see Figure 10), with a smoo-th
flat upper face 24c. A notch 12a is provided at the base of leg
22, at the leading edge thereof. The tubular opening 32 communi-
cates with the interi.or of sealant container 20 at its upper end
and communicates only with the trailing edge o:E tapered foot 24,
that is, at the widest part thereof, at its lower end. As is
clearly illustrated in Figure 8, foot 24 is adapted to project
under a base strip 44 already in place, and an even stream of
sealant projected thereunder. With reference to Figures 11 and 12
it wil.l be seen that the applicator disclosed is useful for main-
taining a continuous line of joing solution when encounterting
an inside corner (because it is necessary to change the applicator
tool orientation prior to arriving at the inner corner to avoid
the end of the flexible bottle containing sealant fouling with
the abutting wall before the line of joining solution is completed
under base strip 44 when the applicator is shown as illustrated in
Figure 11). When the applicator is rotated to the relative posi-
tion il.lustrated in Figure 12, however, it will be appreciated that
an inside corner can be readily negotiated.
The embodiment illustrated in Figure 13 is another
modified version of the applicator designed specifically to apply
glue or sealant to the edge of a carpet more uniformly and more
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conveniently than any other applicator. When carpet is being laid
on large floors it is often necessary to cut pieces of carpet to
size and then to join them together. Carpet which has a woven
backing can often have the piling unraveled from the backing at an
edge which has been cut unless the piling and backing are glued
together at the edge soon after the cut has been made. With
conventional applicator tools it is necessary to lift the edge of
the carpet up several inches above the sub-floor in order to apply
glue or sealant to the edge, this movement of the carpet often
encouraging unraveling to occur. The applicator illustrated in
Figure 13 eliminates the need to raise the carpet, and greatly
facilites the application of glue or sealant to a cut edge thereof.
The applicator illustrated in Figure 13 applies glue or sealant not
only to the edge o-f a carpet, but to the bottom edges of the fibres
to ensure good adhesion thereof.
The applicator illustrated in Figure 13 is manually glued
in the direction of arrow 50, with i~s foot 52 under laid carpe-t
54, the edge o-f carpet 54 pressing against vertical inner edge 56
of a short leg portion which includes an upper sur-face 58, adapted to
ride on top o-f the piling of carpet 54, thus pleventing the edge of
the carpet 54 from riding upwardly. Glue or sealant flows through
conduit 32 which communicates with the inner edge of leg surface 56,
as illustrated, and conduit 32 continues through foot 52 to the
bottom thereof ensuring an even application of sealant along the
carpet edge and therebelow, the leading edge of carpet 54 to which
sealant is being applied being slightly elevated by elevated, stepped
surface 60 of foot 52~
The glue or sealant tends in fact to flow upwardly as the
edge of the carpet is treated in the manner discussed. That is,
the glue or sealant flows on and into the piling in order to ensure
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that it is securecl to the carpet backing, without the glue or
sealant flowing to the top of the piling itself, and thus there is
no visual trace o-f the sealant on the top surface of carpet 5~,
following its application thereto.
When the carpet edges have had glue or sealant applied
thereto, the applicator o-f Figure 13 is removed, and the carpet may
then be joined to adjacent carpet pieces, by conven-tional means.
The applicator of Figure 13 may also be employed when
carpet is to be laid on underpad or the like, or when carpeting is
to be glued directly to sub-flooring.
The foregoing is by way of example only and the invention
should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
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