Patent Application
20190217329
The present disclosure relates generally to devices for applying sealants, such as caulk, and, more particularly, to devices configured to smooth such sealants.
In various fields of construction, there is a need to seal joints for the purposes of weatherproofing, water penetration, and preventing air leaks. Common practice is to seal joints with caulking or sealing material (hereinafter referred to as, “caulk”) which can be comprised of different compounds. These different compounds include water based compounds, oil based compounds, and silicone based compounds. For example, the compounds can be rubber, polyurethane, silicone, and latex.
In most instances, the caulk is used to seal two unlike materials at right angle joints. To properly seal the joint, a caulk gun is used to pipe a bead of caulk at the joint. To finish the seal, a caulk finishing tool is used to press a bead of caulk into the joint. The caulk finishing tool also removes excess caulk and provides for a smooth finish, which is desirable for aesthetic purposes. However, caulk is consistently applied by inexperienced persons who do not get a smooth, precise appearing application. In addition, some caulk is made of a compound with a consistency that requires smoothing even when applied by professionals in order to get a smooth, precise appearance.
Typical caulk finishing tools in the most general form fit in one's hand and have a smooth, pointed edge at one end. The typical smooth, pointed edge of the caulk finishing tools helps to provide for a smooth caulk bead finish. If a user does not have a caulk finishing tool, they can also run a finger along the joint where the bead of caulk has been applied to achieve a smooth surface. However, this does not always result in the smooth, aesthetically pleasing appearance typically desired.
To properly smooth the caulk, it can be expedient, or necessary, to place a small amount of a lubricant of a type compatible with the caulk, such as a liquid thinner, directly on the bead of caulk before or as a smoothing effort is made. This typically entails wetting the tip of the caulk finishing tool or the finger with the appropriate lubricant for the caulk, or it can entail dispensing or spraying the lubricant on the caulk bead after it is applied. This process can be cumbersome and time consuming to the user as they continuously have to wet the caulk while trying to use the caulk finishing tool. These deficiencies prompt the need for a way to easily apply lubricant to the bead of caulk as the caulk finishing tool or finger is moved along the caulk surface. This disclosure provides for such need.
In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus for smoothing caulk is provided which overcomes the deficiencies described above, and has other advantages.
In one embodiment, a caulk smoothing device is provided. The caulk smoothing device comprises a body, an inlet port, and an outlet port. The body has an outer surface with a first portion having a tapered end configured to contact and smooth caulk. The body defines a chamber configured to be a reservoir to hold fluid. An inlet port is defined by the body and allows fluid to be introduced into the reservoir. An outlet port is defined by the body and is in fluid flow communication between the reservoir and the first portion of the outer surface of the body.
In addition to or in the alternative to the previous embodiment, the body of the caulk smoothing device may have a resilient portion that at least partially surrounds the reservoir. The resilient portion has a neutral position and a dispensing position. The dispensing position allows fluid to be released from the reservoir through the outlet portion. The application of pressure on the resilient portion causes movement from the neutral position to the dispensing position.
According to another embodiment, the caulk smoothing device comprises a body, an inlet port, an outlet port, a nozzle, an absorbent material, and a valve. The body has a resilient portion that at least partially surrounds the reservoir. The resilient portion has a neutral position and a dispensing position. The dispensing position allows fluid to be released from the reservoir through the outlet portion. The application of pressure on the resilient portion causes movement from the neutral position to the dispensing position. The body has an outer surface with a first portion configured to contact and smooth caulk. The first portion of the outer surface has a convex contour and a tapered end. The tapered end has a concave recess opposing at least a portion of the first portion of the outer surface. The tapered end has a smoothing tip designed to match the surface to which the caulk is applied.
The body defines a chamber which is configured to be a reservoir to hold fluid. An inlet port is defined by the body and allows fluid to be introduced into the reservoir. An outlet port is defined by the body and is in fluid flow communication between the reservoir and the first portion of the outer surface of the body. The outlet port is located in a way such that, when the caulk smoothing device is used to smooth caulk, fluid contacts the caulk before the tapered end.
The nozzle is recessed within the outer port and configured to create a spray of the fluid released through the outlet port. An absorbent material is recessed within the outlet portion and dispersed around the nozzle. The absorbent material is configured to absorb excess amounts of fluid that are released through the nozzle. The valve has an open position and a closed position. In the open position, the valve allows fluid to be released from the reservoir through the outlet port and, in the closed position, the valve retains fluid within the reservoir
The drawings included with this application illustrate certain aspects of the embodiments described herein. However, the drawings should not be viewed as exclusive embodiments. The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modifications, alterations, combinations, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the art with the benefit of this disclosure.
The present disclosure may be understood more readily by reference to these detailed descriptions. For simplicity and clarity of illustration, where appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the different figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the related relevant feature being described. Also, the description is not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale and the proportions of certain parts have been exaggerated to better illustrate details and features of the present disclosure.
Referring now to
In one embodiment, tapered end 26 may have a concave recess 27 that opposes at least a portion of first portion 24 of outer surface 22. Concave recess 27 allows a finger to comfortably fit on and control caulk smoothing device 10. In some embodiments, tapered end 26 may have a smoothing tip 28. It is to be understood that, although in most applications, tapered end 26 can be sufficient to adequately smooth caulk on a surface, in some applications it can be helpful to include smoothing tip 28 that can be designed to match the surface to which the caulk is applied. Matching the surface to which the caulk is applied helps to ensure caulk smoothing device 10 can glide smoothly across the surface and penetrate the joint being caulked. For example, smoothing tip 28 may be right-angle shaped such that smoothing tip 28 fits precisely within right angle joints. Smoothing tip 28 may also be of a straight edge design such that smoothing tip 28 may glide across and smooth the caulk applied between two flat tiles.
In additional embodiments, as specifically illustrated in
Reservoir 30 is configured to hold fluid 32. Fluid 32 can be any fluid that is suitable with the particular caulk being used for a job. For example, if a water-based caulk is used, fluid 32 need only be water. If an oil-based caulk is used, fluid 32 may be an oil-based thinner. It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that it is advantageous to match fluid 32 with the base of the caulk used for the job.
In some embodiments, reservoir 30 may be removable and replaceable. For example, once fluid 32 within reservoir 30 runs out, reservoir 30 may be removed from within body 20 and replaced with another reservoir 30 that is pre-filled with a particular fluid 32. Such embodiments allow for quick and easy refills of reservoir 30 without leaving the caulking area, as a person may have refills in his or her pockets. For example, reservoir 30 can be a plastic bag which may be inserted into body 20. In some cases, the interior of body 20 may include a spike or needle to puncture the bag to create fluid flow communication with outlet port 36, which is further described below.
As most easily seen from
Turning now to
In some embodiments, such as illustrated in
In additional embodiments, caulk smoothing device 10 may release fluid 32 from reservoir 30 with simple pressure. For example, in some embodiments, when pressure is applied to smoothing tip 28, outlet port 36 may open such that fluid 32 is released from reservoir 30. In such embodiments, the more pressure applied to smoothing tip 28, the more fluid 32 that is released from reservoir 30 through outlet port 36. In other embodiments, the application of pressure on body 20 may cause fluid 32 to be released through outlet port 36.
Turning now to
As further shown in
In some embodiments, as illustrated in
In some embodiments (not illustrated), caulk smoothing device 10 is equipped with a means to attach caulk smoothing device 10 to a person's finger and/or hand. For example, in some embodiments, a hollow ring may extend from the top of body 20 such that a person can slide his or her finger through the hollow ring. In other embodiments, caulk smoothing device 10 may include an adjustable strap extending from body 20 such that a person can pull the strap over his or her hand and adjust the strap such that caulk smoothing device 10 is secured to the person's hand. In additional embodiments, caulk smoothing device 10 may include an adjustable strap extending from body 20 such that a person can pull the strap over his or her finger and adjust the strap such that caulk smoothing device 10 is secured to the person's finger. In other embodiments, caulk smoothing device 10 may be equipped with a resilient strap extending from body 20. In such embodiments, a person can extend either his or her finger or hand under the resilient strap to secure caulk smoothing device 10.
In operation, in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, a person would first put down a bead of caulk to fill a joint on a job site. For purposes of this example, a bead of water-based caulk has been put down to fill the joint between a kitchen backsplash and the granite countertop. Next, the person would take caulk smoothing device 10 and remove cap 38 from inlet port 34. The person would then fill reservoir 30 with a fluid 32, water in this example, and then reseal inlet port 34 with cap 38. Next, smoothing tip 28 of tapered end 26 would be placed on the joint to be smoothed and the person would slowly start sliding smoothing tip 28 across the joint. As the person slides smoothing tip 28 across the joint, the person would slide valve 40 into the open position such that water 32 is released from reservoir 30 through outlet port 36. This would saturate the caulk such that a smooth, precise finish is achieved with smoothing tip 28. If reservoir 30 runs outs of water 32 prior to completing the job, the person can simply remove cap 38 from inlet port 34, refill reservoir 30 with water 32, reseal inlet port 34 with cap 38, and continue smoothing the caulk. Once the job is complete, the person can either throw caulk smoothing device 10 away or can remove cap 38 from inlet port 34, empty the remaining water 32 out of reservoir 30, reseal inlet port 34 with cap 38, and store caulk smoothing device 10 until the next job.
Although certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been herein described in order to illustrate the principles of the invention, it will be understood that various changes and innovations in structure can be effected without departure from these principles. Changes and innovations of this type are therefore deemed to be circumscribed by the spirit and scope of the invention except as the same may be limited by the appended claims or reasonable equivalents thereof.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/618,905 filed Jan. 18, 2018, which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62618905 | Jan 2018 | US |
