Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02522499 2005-10-07
Attorneys' Ref. No. P214889ca
WALL PATCH SYSTEMS AND METHODS
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to systems and methods for patching
holes in walls and, more specifically, to wall patch systems and methods
that facilitate the repair of holes of various sizes in drywall material.
io
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The walls of building structures typically comprise a structural frame
to which is attached two non-structural wall surFaces. Exterior walls
is typically comprise insulation, an exterior wall surface, and an interior
wall
surface. Interior walls typically comprise two interior wall surfaces.
The present invention may have broad application to a large
number of surfaces, including certain types of exterior wall surfaces, but is
of particular significance when applied to interior wall surfaces of a
building
2o structure. The present invention will thus be described herein in the
context of repairing drywall material forming an interior wall surface,
although the scope of the present invention shall be determined with
reference to claims appended hereto and not the following detailed
description of the invention.
2s Interior wall surfaces are typically formed by drywall material.
Drywall material is a cementitious material having desirable fire resistance
properties but which is relatively susceptible to damage from moisture
and/or external forces. In addition, holes may be formed in drywall
material to perform repair or maintenance of mechanical systems such as
3o plumbing or electrical wiring within the wall. Whether formed by accident
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or on purpose, holes in drywall material are often patched.
Conventionally, a drywall patch comprises a structural portion that
is attached to the drywall material around the hole and which bridges over
the hole. A finish portion if the drywall is applied over the structural
portion
s so that the drywall patch substantially matches the unrepaired drywall
material surrounding the hole.
The need exists for improved drywall patch systems and methods
that are relatively simple and easy to manufacture and distribute and
which give the user substantial flexibility in use with minimum waste of
io materials.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention may be embodied as a patch system for
is patching a hole in a wall surface or a method using such a patch system.
The patch system comprises an original plate member, a surface sheet,
and adhesive material. At least one scored fine is formed on the original
plate member. The original plate member may be broken along the at
least one scored line to obtain a plurality of sub-plate members. The sub-
2o plate members are smaller than the original plate member. The surface
sheet defines first and second surfaces. The adhesive material secures
the original plate member or one of the sub-plate members to the first
surface of the surface sheet. The adhesive material further secures at
least a portion of the first surface of the surface sheet to the wall surface
2s such that the rigid plate and the surface sheet are held in a desired
position relative to the hole.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded, perspective view of a wall patch system of
the present invention being used to cover a hole in a wall;
s FIG. 2 is a perspective view depicting a plate member of the wail
patch system of FIG. 1, where scored lines are formed on the plate
member;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the plate member of FIG. 2 being
broken along a scored line into two separate plate members;
io FIG. 4 is a perspective view depicting the two separate plate
members resulting after the step depicted in FIG. 3 is performed;
FIG. 4A is a perspective view depicting two separate plate
members resulting after the plate member depicted in FIG. 4 is broken
along a scored line;
is FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the step of forming a plate assembly
incorporating the plate member of FIGS. 2-4 and a mesh sheet;
FIG. 7 illustrates the step of securing the plate assembly of FIG. 6
over to the wall over the hole; and
FIG. 8 illustrates the step of covering the plate assembly with
2o drywall mud and a finish coat.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring initially to FIG. 1 of the drawing, depicted at 20 therein is
a wall patch system constructed in accordance with, and embodying, the
principles of the present invention. The wall patch system 20 is shown in
the drawing covering a hole 22 formed in a section of drywall 24. The hole
22 may be purposely formed or may be formed by accident. In any event,
the hole 22 should be repaired aesthetic and possibly functional reasons.
The drywall 24 is conventionally formed by drywall material that has
io been mudded and taped at the seams, primed, and coated with finish coat
of texture material and/or paint. The drywall 24 is conventional and will be
described herein only to the extent necessary for a complete
understanding of the present invention.
The wall patch system 20 comprises a plate member 30 and a
is mesh sheet assembly 32. The plate member 30 can be made of any
relatively rigid sheet material such as metal or plastic. Shown in FIG. 1 is
an example plate member 30a made of a metal such as aluminum or steel
and comprising a scored portion 34.
FIGS. 2-3 further illustrate that the plate member 30a may be
2o formed from a larger plate member 30 comprising a plurality of scored
portions 34a and 34b in the form of straight lines. Part of the material
forming the plate member 30 is stamped, cut, or otherwise worked at the
scored portions to create a weakened portion of the plate member 30.
The example scored portions 34a and 34b divide the plate member into a
2s plurality of plate portions 36a, 36b, 36c, and 36d.
The larger plate member 30 may be used intact to cover a hole 22
of relatively large dimensions. In this case, the scored portions 34a and
34b are not used; these scored portions 34a and 34b do not affect the
ability of the plate member 30 to function as the primary structural portion
so of a wall patch.
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However, the scored portions 34 allow the larger plate member 30
to be separated by hand along either of the scored portions 34a and 34b
into a plurality of intermediate-sized plate members such as the plate
members 30a and 30b shown in FIG. 4. In particular, the user simply
grasps the plate member 30 on either side of the desired score portion, in
this case the scored portion 34a, and bends the plate member one or
more times along the scored portion 34a until the plate member 30 breaks
into the smaller plate members 30a and 30b. The plate portions 30a and
30b comprise score portions 34c and 34d, respectively.
to As will be described in detail below, at least one of the intermediate
plate members 30a and 30b may be sized and dimensioned to fit the
dimensions of the hole 22 without excessive overlap beyond the edges of
the hole 22. In this case, the plate members 30a and/or 30b may be used
as shown in FIG. 4 to patch a hole 22 of appropriate dimensions.
is If, however, the plate members 30a and 30b excessively overlap
beyond the edges of the hole 22, either of these smaller plate members
30a or 30b may be broken along the score portions 34c and 34d into even
smaller plate members 30c and 30d as shown in FIG. 4A. As an example,
FIG. 4A depicts the situation in which the intermediate-sized plate member
20 30a is broken along the scored portion 34c to obtain the plate members
30c and 30d. In the example wall patch system 20, the scored portion 34c
is located such that plate portion 36a is larger than the plate portion 36c,
resulting in the plate member 30c being bigger than the plate member 30d.
The formation of the original scored portions 34a and 34b on the
2s original plate member 30 thus provides the user with significant
flexibility in
providing a plate member 30, 30a, 30b, 30c, or 30d of appropriate size to
efficiently cover holes 22 of a large range of sizes.
The process of covering the hole using a plate member 30 of an
appropriate size will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5.
3o FIGS. 1 and 5 illustrate the mesh sheet assembly 32 comprises a mesh or
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surface sheet 40 and a release paper 42. The mesh sheet 40 comprises a
mesh layer 50 and an adhesive layer 52. The mesh layer 50 is formed by
a matrix of material defining openings or indentations that allow drywall
mud or the like to grip the mesh layer 50 as will be described in further
s detail below. Typically, the mesh layer 50 is formed by a non-woven grid
of bonded glass fibers, but other materials and configurations can be used
to form the mesh layer 50. For example, the mesh layer 50 can be formed
of metal, polymers, or other materials configured to form the desired
openings or indentations by perforations, weaving, or the like.
io The adhesive layer 52 may take the form of a solid layer of material
to which the mesh layer 50 is attached. Alternatively, the adhesive layer
52 may be formed by spraying adhesive material in wet form onto the
mesh layer 50 and allowing the adhesive material to dry in the form of an
adhesive coating on one side of the mesh layer 50, in which case the
is adhesive layer 52 will not be solid. In the example mesh sheet 40, the
adhesive layer 52 is sprayed onto the grid of glass fibers forming the mesh
layer 50. The adhesive layer 52 should be formulated to bond securely
both to the mesh layer and to drywall material, whether the drywall
material is bare or coated with a finish coat.
2o The release paper 42 is formed of a material having at least one
surface designed to stick to the adhesive layer 52 during transportation
and storage during transportation and storage but which allows the release
paper 42 to be peeled away from the adhesive layer 52 immediately prior
to use. The release paper 52 prevents the adhesive layer 52 from
2s inadvertently sticking to packaging materials and the plate member 30
prior to use. The release paper 52 also protects the adhesive layer 52
from contamination prior to use and during cutting of the mesh sheet 40 as
will be described below.
Referring now again for a moment to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the
3o hole 22 defines a hole surface area 60, a first hole perimeter area 62, and
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a second hole perimeter area 64. The example hole surface area 60 is an
irregular closed shape defined by the actual surface area of the wall 24
removed to form the hole 22. The example first hole perimeter area 62 is
a rectangular shape that surrounds the hole surface area 60. The
s example second hole perimeter area 64 is also a rectangular shape that
surrounds the first hole perimeter area 62. As shown by broken lines in
FIGS. 1 and 5, the plate member 30 is sized and dimensioned to match
the first hole perimeter area 62, while the mesh sheet 40 is sized and
dimensioned to match the second hole perimeter area.
io The process of using the wall patch system 20 will now be
described in further detail. First, the dimensions of the first hole perimeter
area 62 are determined based on the dimensions of the hole 22. The first
hole perimeter area 62 should be slightly larger than the hole surface area
60 so that the plate member 30a has firm support around the entire hole
is 22. The exact dimensions of the first hole perimeter area 62 relative to
the
hole surface area 60 but can very depending upon the particular
circumstances. For example, a larger hole may require more overlap of
the plate member 30a with the wall 24 around the hole 22. The
dimensions of the first hole perimeter area 62 should also be determined
2o based on the sizes of the plate portions 36, both individually and added
together.
Once the dimensions of the first hole perimeter area 62 are
determined, the plate member 30 may be separated into at least one piece
corresponding to the dimensions of the first hole perimeter area if the
2s original plate member 30 is too large. In the example system 20, the
dimensions of the first hole perimeter area 62 substantially match the area
of the combined plate portions 36a and 36c. Accordingly, the plate
member is bent along the scored portion 34a as shown in FIG. 3 to form
the smaller plate members 30a and 30b shown in FIG. 4. The plate
3o member 30a comprises the plate portions 36a and 36c and thus has
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substantially the same cross-sectional area as the first hole perimeter area
62.
Next, the dimensions of the second hole perimeter area 64 are
determined. The dimensions of the second hole perimeter area 64 are
s determined based on the size of the first hole perimeter area 62. In
particular, the mesh sheet 40 is cut to a size slightly larger than that of
the
plate member 30a. Again, the exact dimensions of the mesh sheet 40 are
not critical. However, enough overlap should exist between the mesh
sheet 40 and the wall 24 beyond the plate member 30a that the adhesive
io layer 52 securely holds the plate member 30a and the mesh layer 50 in
place over the hole 22. A grid or design may be imprinted on the release
paper 42 to facilitate the cutting of mesh sheet 40 to the appropriate size.
As mentioned above, the mesh sheet 40 should be cut as part of the mesh
sheet assembly 32 (with the release paper 42 attached), but the mesh
is sheet 42 may be cut with the release paper 42 removed.
After mesh sheet 40 is trimmed to the proper size as described
above, the release paper 42 is removed (if not already removed). The
plate member 30a is then brought into contact with the adhesive layer 52
such that the plate member 30a is attached to a central portion of the
2o mesh sheet as shown in FIG. 6 to form a patch assembly 70.
Then, as shown in F1G. 7, the patch assembly 70 is then brought
into contact with the wall 24 such that the plate member 30a covers the
hole 22, with a portion of the plate member 30a preferably overlapping
with the wall 24 around the entire hole 22. In this configuration, the
2s adhesive layer 52 comes into contact with the wall 24 around the plate
member 30a to hold the patch assembly 70 in place over the hole 22.
At this point, the hole 22 is patched. However, as shown in the
close up of FIG. 8, drywall mud 80 is preferably placed over the patch
assembly 70. While wet, the drywall mud 80 is feathered beyond the
3o edges of the mesh sheet 40 and worked into the indentations formed by
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the mesh sheet. When the drywall mud 80 dries, the drywall mud 80
mechanically engages the holes andlor indentations formed by the mesh
sheet 40 to hold the dried drywall mud in place. The drywall mud 80 is
then typically sanded.
As shown in FIG. 8, a finish layer 90 is then typically formed over
the dried drywall mud 80. The finish layer 90 typically comprises a layer of
primer and paint and may also comprise conventional texture material if
necessary to match a texture of the wall 22 surrounding the patch
assembly 70.
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