Patent Application
20090113840
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to cove base, also referred to as wall base, rubber/vinyl base, vinyl mop base, and top set within the classification of wall coverings in the flooring industry. Specifically to the installation and repairs and of cove base at intersecting corners.
2. Prior Art
Installing cove base at intersecting corners can be very difficult and time-consuming. Even the professional can dread the procedure of installing cove base after installing the floor covering. In the flooring industry coving was introduced during the period when linoleum based flooring was being predominately used as a hard surface floor covering. Today the primary substitute is vinyl based resilient floor covering. The term coving is used to describe flooring extending from the floor at the edges and traversing up the wall in one continuous piece of material. At the apex where the floor and wall converge, the material is curved creating the cove. It is my understanding that coving was introduced to circumvent decomposition and dilapidations caused by excessive mopping. Coving is very difficult to install and requires a well-trained professional as well as being very expensive. Inside and outside corners are very difficult to implement. Outside corners especially, in that a piece of material has to be added on one side or the other where a void is left from the cut out created by the material extending up the opposite and separate side wall. Cove base was introduced later to provide a less expensive and more manageable process to achieve the transition from floor to wall while asserting the same functionality as coving. Nevertheless inside and outside corners can still be particularly troublesome and difficult to establish.
The most common and widely used method currently being utilized for installing cove base around outside corners is to wrap them. This process can be very frustrating and time-consuming taking many steps to accomplish the task. This most often results with an undesirable appearance, being that the bottom cove portion collapses into itself. If not, the pressure produced usually stresses the bottom contour to point of eventually splitting creating a gap in an open reverse V form. One of the steps in the procedure is reducing the material in the back, a must, at the bend so it will conform around the corner. This is done by gouging out the back side or by bending the material back side up and carving material out in order to create a groove. If to much material is taken out, a hole is created on the front side, so consequently you must start over with a new piece and quite possibly the piece you have damaged may have to be discarded. Reducing material from the back is imperative and invariably reduces the integrity at the corners vertex. Another particular disadvantage and frustrating aspect of wrapping, is the pressure that is created at the top portion of the base from the vertex and for the most part, it routinely pops away at the top edge from the wall on one side or the other, if not on both sides.
Inside corners are usually less troublesome. Nevertheless, they also have their quirks, such as a wall that is out of plumb and the choice is cutting to the corner rather than bending through it, the cut most likely will have to be done at an angle. Caulking is also generally used for filling in voids which create color match problems and eventually attracts dirt. Outside corners as well, share this anomaly. When bending through to accomplish installation at an inside corner, generally a slight slice is made on the back side and the bottom cove is cut out at about a 45 degree angle creating a reverse V notch. Unless starting a run of base is at the inside corner, precise measurement is imperative.
Between the extra labor incurred and possible other complications associated with facilitating installations at intersecting corners, a better method has been sought. Several types of inventions have been created to address some of these problems. For example U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,296 (1994) to Stroller, Cove base cutter guide and U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,459 to Brown, Corner making tool. These tools address the collapsing of the cove portion as well as the popping out at the top edge. These are still time-consuming and the installer must be very precise. Adjoining the mitered edges to align perfectly together is another problem in and of itself. The joint edge of the miter, being of two separate pieces, does not have the same structural integrity that my invention provides. Also my invention can easily repair a damaged corner installed using this
In accordance with the present invention, each of the Cove base corner covers comprises an integrally formed cover for an external corner of Cove base with an elongated midsection defining a pair of generally flat perpendicular faces intersecting to thereby form an external vertex and a hollow interior that may be placed over an intermediate portion of cove base at internal and external corners. The corners also having a respective concave face extending downwardly and forwardly from each miter method. Another type of invention that has been created to address one of these problems is U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,207 (2002) for Barry & Morrison, Vinyl base wall clamp. This apparatus is used for applying pressure at the side of the vertex until the adhesive has set precluding the corner edges from popping away from the wall. Again this is not only time-consuming, it does not address the problem of the lower portion cove collapsing into itself. In actuality, the most common method adapted is to used a brad nail to hold the material in place, yet using this method usually leaves an indentation or even a hole. For the most part, only the professional floor installer would have one of these cove base tools if in fact they were even aware of their existence, let alone know where to acquire them. My invention addresses these situations with a more simplistic productive procedure and resolve.
For many commercial applications 6″ cove base is often used and is very often mandated especially for use in restaurants, medical buildings and numerous other businesses which are overseen by the health department. 6″ cove base is extremely difficult to wrap or miter. Inconsistencies and variations of the walls increase with the height and take a great deal more effort as well as time to accomplish navigating around, into or from intersecting corners. The attributes of my invention become even more evident in these such situations. Cracked corners and splits creating a void at the bottom seem to be more apparent with cove base having higher stature than those of their shorter counterparts.
Other prior art of possible relevance is U.S. Pat. No. 2,307,338 to Shiyter et al. (1943) Base fitting for interior walls. This invention, though it is similar in appearance and share some of the objectives, such as the collapsing of the cove element and popping from the vertex edge, is still inferior to my invention for numerous reasons. This invention requires that it be placed directly on the wall and attached with tabs extending from it, with holes for fastening at the lower portion, along with recessed lugs installed prior to the fitting in order to snap fitting permanently in place. This requires time and effort especially if the wall itself requires preparation for fastening along with the installation of the fastening system. The cove base requires precise fitting in order to be adjoined to the base fitting. With the Cove base corner cover precise cuts are not required, extensive preparatory work for fastening also is not required nor does it have the additional use to perform repairs of cracked and damaged corners. My invention is simply placed over the cove base and not directly on the wall without any special consideration.
Another prior art of possible relevance is U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,237 to Juntunen (1991) Miterless molding system. This invention is similar to my invention in that it is a decorative receptacle covering intersections providing the appearance of a finished joint between the adjacent rough cut ends. Aside from its completely different appearance, its use is for carpentry related molding such as crown, chair and base molding, not that of cove base wall coverings.
Other prior art of a pre-molded outside corner is manufactured by a manufacturer of cove base. The design is different in that the bottom portion cove is completely round at the bottom and the face extends a few inches away from the vertex. The product attaches to the wall as well as the form of the back side precludes it from being placed over the cove base itself. Once again precision is needed to adjoin the cove base it is being installed along with as well as requiring a perfect color match. These are very expensive and are not as simple in their use.
in accordance with the present invention, both of the Cove base corner covers comprises an integrally formed cover for an external corner of cove base within an elongated midsection defining a pair of generally flat intersecting to thereby form an external vertex and a hollow interior that may be placed over an intermediate portion of cove base at internal and external corners. The corners also have a respective concave face extending downwardly and forwardly from each perpendicular face with the two concave faces intersecting to form a foreword projecting lower extension of the external vertex creating the cove elements having at least a portion of the interior base portion being hollow whereby the base portion may be placed over to adjoining cove portions of cove base at intersecting corners. The corner covers are athletically designed with an overall appearance resembling that of a pillar. It provides an improved method for use with installations of pre-manufactured base at intersecting corners. It extends slightly beyond the cove base it is attached over yet it structure depicts unity with its face extending a minimal distance beyond the corner so as not to appear obtrusive with the edges being tapered allowing it to blend in more readily. This allows for the overall appearance to exhibit completeness.
A preferred embodiment of the corner cover of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1,2,3 and 4, outside corner cover, and 5&6, inside corner cover. The cover has an integrally formed elongated body comprised of thin walls. I prefer the thickness of these walls to be between 0.10 and 0.125 of an inch along with being tapered round to the edges. However the thickness can be varied as thin as a piece of tin or sheet metal or as thick up to ½ of an inch, depending on what is called for. An example would be for use as a very durable corner protector. Each side should be of sufficient horizontal width to overlap and cover cuts made without exact precision.
There is no one preferred color for the Cove base corner cover. The actual preferred color would be that of the cove base it is being placed over. Matching the color would be ideal, however a color of similar resemblance would suffice quite well. Depending on the shading of light, a perfect match often appears to have different shade of color. Clear corner covers absorb and reflect the color of the base installed beneath them and therefore they are best suited to be used universally. Wood and metals may also be used universally, although these are more limited in there scope.
The preferred embodiment as shown in
The inside (internal) Cove base corner cover
Alternative embodiments as shown in
In
The backside of the outside corner cover
There are various possibilities with regard to the relative disposition of the edges wherein for all practical purposes, any edge can be interchanged from one configuration to the other although the backside must remain flat and conform with the wall coverings of the cove base it is being attached over.
The manufacturing of this invention can be accomplished in a variety of ways depending upon its composition. I prefer the composition of material to be used in the manufacturing of this invention to be rubber/vinyl the same as with pre-existing manufactured cove base used in the flooring industry. This material is flexible and therefore is able to adapt more readily to the irregular walls and corners. The process used to manufacture this device I also prefer to be molding injection. This invention can also be produced and manufactured with other materials such as wood, metals and most forms of plastic, but not limited to any material or process of manufacture. With the above-mentioned composition in most cases can be produced, but not limited to, Mill 3-Axis. Materials that are rigid, generally will be produced for economical reasons. Eventually the market, especially, and manufacturing cost will determine the best mode of production.
Installations of cove base with the Cove base corner cover become very simple, efficient, quick and easy to accomplish. The manner in which one installs the most economical version of the corner cover merely consists of applying adhesive such as contact cement or other compatible adhesive, to the backside
The outside Cove base corner cover,
Another common and frustrating element of wrapping base around corners is that the top portion tends to pop out at the top edge from the vertex away from the wall on one side or the other, if not both sides, from pressure instead of securing properly to the wall. Inferior remedies include a miter, which can be very difficult because of flexibility of the cove base if not in possession of a cove base cutter guide, which has also been invented for a resolution of some of these idiosyncrasies including the cove portion collapsing into itself. In reference to popping at the top edge created by pressure from the vertex, use of a wall base clamp, invented also as another remedy, can be used yet it also is time-consuming. The most common and widely used approach is the use of a brad nail which usually creates an indentation if not a hole. Filling in the indentation or hole is particularly difficult expressly pertaining to the different colors of cove base. The inventions as previously mentioned do have their merits, provided you know of their existence and as well as where to acquire them and accordingly they still fall short compared to the advantages of the Cove base corner cover.
To install an outside Cove base corner cover the manufactured cove base is installed in the usual manner with the exception that each separate length is rough cut somewhat flush at the corner. The cuts will be covered therefore there is no need for precision. After installing the cove base on each side, pull the tab off the backsides 41-49 exposing the adhesive, align in place over both adjacent cuts and press to form a bond. This creates a unified junction between both adjacent sides of the corner having the decorative appearance of an aesthetically designed pillar
Inside corners can also prove to be troublesome, although not nearly as much. An example of this is an irregular and/or out of plumb wall. In these cases cutting to or from the corner, instead of bending through it, generally the cut must be made at an angle in order to conform to the plumb of the wall. Inside corners require the cove portion of cove base being installed to be cut out at about a 45 degree angle to the bottom. Precision is required whether or not cutting to or from or bending through, in order that both adjacent sides adjoin each other properly. Outside corners as well, tend to be hampered by the irregularity and variations of the wall. Coping is another method used if the wall is not to far out of plumb although one side still needs to be cut with precision. Sometimes caulking is used in order to fill in the gap which is very difficult in relation to the color of cove base the used.
When using the inside corner cover
Another attribute to this invention is the ease of installation around and under a cabinet with a toe-kick or some other obstruction. To accomplish this and individual length of base can be trimmed to one size and cut off flush at the corner while the adjacent side, being of a different height, is individually placed. This eliminates trimming an entire length of base at two different heights and then wrapping it, instead the cove base cover itself can easily be trimmed on its face 14 or 15 to fit underneath the cabinet and if the adjacent side is full size, a finished curved end at the top portion 11 or 12 is produced.
This invention is also very useful for providing a method to perform repairs to cracked and damaged corners of already existing wall coverings. This can be accomplished by removing excess material at the vertex of the corner and cleaning off dirt and grime where the corner cover will be attached. After applying adhesive, with the economical version, or pulling off the tab with the peel and stick system, simply align and place it directly over the cove base being repaired covering the void. Taking off the cove base and replacing it is no longer required as well as replacement with a perfect color match. Not only is the corner cover a device providing a method to perform repairs, it is also is a device having substantially more density as well as durability, providing a means for protecting corners.
From the description above a number of advantages of the cove base corner cover become evident. Accordingly, the objects and advantages of the corner cover described in my above patent, several objects and advantages of the present invention are;
Further objects and advantages are to provide a superior defined and result and overall aesthetic appearance that is simple to use and inexpensive to manufacture. The structure of each corner is unitary and continuity having a multitude of essential uses.
Accordingly the reader will see that this invention simplifies and very significantly reduces the complications associated with the installation of existing manufactured cove base as well as the time spent and effort involved in achieving a desired end result. Not only does this invention resolve many distinctive problems, it also completely eliminates numerous others. It is a multifunction device not only for installing cove base efficiently, it provides a means for repairing damaged and cracked corners along with its adaptation as a corner protector.
The professional as well as the novice will find that the inception of this device can be invaluable, not only does it serve as a decorative component with its aesthetic design, it improves the overall appearance especially that of the outside corner with the resemblance of a pillar. Its ease in application provides a means to reduce frustration, as well as aggravation, associated with installation of cove base in regard to navigating around and into intersecting corners. Skill and precision is so minimal anyone can acquire a professional outcome with little effort. Directions for use, because it is so simple to use, require only a few sentences that just about anyone can understand and follow. It is a very inexpensive as well as a practical and efficient method of completing a superior installation.
Although the description above contains many specificities, this should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. For example the corner cover can have other shapes especially the edges which can be tapered round, rounded, beveled, squared flush and/or flat ect. The backside however must be consistent with the face of existing manufactured cove base.
Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather then by the examples that are given.
