Patent Application
20200256068
The present invention relates generally to a new and improved form of drywall joint tape. More specifically, the invention relates to a somewhat contoured and beveled self-adhesive drywall joint tape for use with installed drywall and that is specifically designed to fill in the valley or trough that is created when the tapered edges of two drywall sheets are installed adjacent to one another. Accordingly, the present specification makes specific reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that aspects of the present invention are also equally amenable to other like applications, devices and methods of manufacture.
Drywall is typically installed in 4′×8′, 4′×10′ or even 4′×12′ foot sheets by attaching the drywall sheets to wooden or metal studs with fasteners, such as nails or screws. To give the wall or other drywalled structure a finished look, it is also necessary to fill in and finish the joint or seam where two adjacent sheets of drywall meet with joint compound or drywall mud. More specifically, the factory side edges of a typical drywall sheet are comprised of a tapered portion that begins on the front or outwardly facing portion of the drywall sheet, approximately two inches from the side edges. The taper gradually slopes toward the side edge until the slope reaches the end of the sheet, thereby forming a prolonged beveled edge on both sides of the front or outwardly facing side of the drywall sheet.
Therefore, when two sheets of drywall are butted up against one another during the installation process, a trough or valley is formed due to the presence of the taper on each factory side edge of the drywall sheet, with the lowest point being the joint itself. As noted above, this trough or valley is typically filled in with a combination of a flat drywall tape and joint compound. More specifically, joint compound, or drywall mud as it is commonly referred to in the trades, is spread along the joints and edges of two or more sheets of drywall to seal the joints between said sheets and to also create a seamless base for when the sheets are eventually primered and painted over. In addition to applying joint compound/drywall mud to each of the joints and corners, it is common practice within the drywall/drywalling industry to also apply one of two forms of drywall tape along the same joints and corners. The primary purposes of the drywall tape is to prevent cracking and to reinforce the joints, as the drywall tape also acts to hold the two drywall sheets together. Due to its shear strength being much greater than the drywall mud or joint compound, the inclusion of the drywall tape increases the strength of the joint, and it further acts as a surface for the mud/joint compound to adhere to in a secondary capacity.
As previously mentioned, two forms of joint tape are commonly used in the drywall industry, the first being paper-based tape. Paper-based tape typically has no adhesive properties, and must be applied to the joint only after a thick layer of drywall mud or joint compound has been applied. More specifically, the paper based joint tape is pressed into the drywall mud and must dry, typically overnight. After the drywall mud/joint compound is dry, the area may be lightly sanded and another layer of drywall mud/joint compound is then applied over the hardened tape, and is again allowed to dry before being sanded to create the finished seamless joint (unless a third application of drywall mud/joint compound is required to sufficiently build up the area or achieve the desired finish). Additionally, the paper based joint tape may further comprised a central longitudinal crease that allows the joint tape to be easily bent in half longitudinally, thereby making it conducive to being successfully applied to an inside drywall corner. However, this process requires the user to bend the length of the joint tape to the central longitudinal crease and then position the bent length of joint tape along the length of the inside corner, which can be difficult due to the non-adhesive nature of the paper based joint tape.
The second most commonly used type of drywall joint tape is mesh tape. Mesh drywall joint tape is typically comprised of fiberglass threads woven into a grid pattern and further comprises an adhesive backing. Mesh drywall joint tape offers substantial benefits over paper-based tape, one of which being the ability to self-adhere to the drywall surface. More specifically, because mesh joint tape can be directly applied to the bare surface of the drywall, it is not necessary to first place a layer of drywall mud/joint compound on the drywall sheets, as is required with paper-based tape. This allows the user to ultimately use less drywall mud/joint compound, as the same need only be applied over the mesh tape after the user has adhered it to the drywall joint or corner surfaces, and is less messy as it does not require that the user insert the drywall mesh tape into a bed of already installed drywall mud/joint compound. In addition, mesh tape can and is preferably used with quick drying mud, which is commonly called hot mud within the drywall industry. This combination of mesh tape and hot mud allows a user to quickly apply several coats of hot mud over mesh tape during the course of a work day that would otherwise take several days to accomplish with paper-based tape and conventional drywall mud. Mesh tape also provides better resistance against mold or water leaks than paper based drywall tape due to its mold resistant fiberglass composition, and is preferably used in applications where wide joint gaps may be present due to its ultimate tensile strength being greater than that of paper-based drywall tape.
Notwithstanding the forgoing, existing mesh-based drywall tape contains several inherent limitations, the first of which is being difficult to apply to inside corners of a room. More specifically, a user would likely struggle to crease the mesh tape evenly in a fashion similar to that of if they were applying pre-formed paper-based tape. Ultimately paper-based tape is favored by many within the drywall industry for use when drywall forms inside corners within a room. This is due to its pre-formed central crease which makes manipulating the drywall tape into the proper positioning needed to apply it to a corner fairly easy. Although existing mesh tape can be used in this fashion, the effort required to manipulate the tape into the proper position for application is substantially more difficult than if paper tape is used, and tends to want to overlap itself. Therefore, the aforementioned benefits of mesh tape may not be properly utilized by a user due to its characteristic of difficult manipulation in certain applications such as in an inside corner of a room.
In addition to its less than optimal manipulative properties for use in inside corners, mesh tape has another drawback that is also shared with paper-based tape; namely being the amount of joint compound/drywall mud that must be applied when using the tape to fill in the valley or trough created by the shape of the drywall factory edges. As mentioned previously, due to the anatomy and design of a sheet of drywall a generous amount of joint compound/drywall mud must be applied at each joint of two sheets of drywall to compensate for the inherent low point that is created as a result of each drywall sheet's tapered factory created edges. Although mesh tape with an adhesive backing does not require joint compound/drywall mud to be applied before the tape is installed, it still requires a substantial amount of joint compound/drywall mud to be applied after the drywall tape has been applied to bring the resultant low point of the joint level with the rest of the main flat surface of both drywall sheets. This is true because the mesh tape is simply being pressed onto the joint, and is not taking up any significant amount of volume by lying flat against the drywall sheets. Similarly, the same amount of joint compound/drywall mud must be applied when using paper-based drywall tape due to the flat nature of the paper-based drywall tape. Further, the thicker the void that must be filled in with drywall mud/joint compound, the longer the required drying time before the same can be sanded, primered and painted. Additionally, thicker drywall mud/joint compound areas are prone to cracking, which can be unsightly and require additional finishing.
Both paper and mesh drywall tape also share another drawback in regards to their inability to conceal fasteners such as drywall screws and/or nails. Because conventional forms of paper/mesh tape are flat, they may not completely cover the drywall fasteners positioned immediately adjacent to the drywall joint, which may protrude slightly above the surface of the beveled drywall edge or are otherwise prone to movement (i.e., back out or pop out). Therefore, the insufficient thickness of conventional drywall mesh/paper tape can lead to the exposure of fasteners if a user doesn't apply the appropriate thickness of drywall mud/joint compound over the fastener heads. This is an issue of substantial importance, as in order to achieve a seamless appearance, all fasteners must be adequately covered with drywall mud/joint compound and thereby concealed.
Consequently, a long felt need exists in the art for an improved drywall tape that overcomes the limitations of prior art drywall tapes. More specifically, there is a long felt need in the art for an improved drywall tape of mesh-based composition that is capable of substantially filling in the valley created by two adjacent tapered drywall edges and that has greater inherent manipulative properties than existing mesh-based tapes while still maintaining the structural rigidity of existing mesh tape. There is also a long felt need in the art for an improved drywall tape that allows the user to utilize less joint compound/drywall mud when applying said tape than is currently needed to apply when using existing paper/mesh-based drywall tape. Further, there is a long felt need in the art for an improved drywall tape that requires less time to properly finish hung drywall sheets, thereby reducing labor costs and improving overall efficiency of a drywall finishing operation. Finally, there is a long felt need in the art for an improved drywall tape that exhibits superior strength characteristic, and that is both each easy, safe and relatively inexpensive to install.
In one exemplary embodiment, the present invention discloses an improved drywall tape that is comprised of a pair of spaced apart side portions connected to a mesh body portion along the entire length of the improved drywall tape. More specifically, each of the pair of side portions is relatively flat and is positioned on one respective side of the mesh body portion, and extends longitudinally along the entire length of the improved drywall tape. The pair of said side portions may further comprise an adhesive applied to the backside of the side portions to adhere to the drywall surface to which they are applied. The body portion is preferably comprised of a three dimensional mass of fiberglass mesh, as opposed to a generally flat structure, the general configuration of which substantially fills the valley or trough created when two sheets of drywall are butted up against one another during the installation process due to the presence of the tapered factory edges.
In this manner, the improved drywall tape of the present invention accomplishes all of the forgoing objectives, thereby improving the ability of a user to successfully utilize mesh-based tape in areas it may previously have not been ideal for, such as inside room corners. In addition, the improved drywall tape requires the use of less joint compound/drywall mud, and ultimately less time, to complete the drywall installation and finishing process than conventional drywall tape means.
The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed innovation. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
As noted above, the subject matter disclosed and claimed herein, in one embodiment thereof, comprises an improved drywall tape that is comprised of a pair of spaced apart side portions fixedly attached to a mesh body portion. More specifically, each of the pair of side portions is relatively flat and is positioned on one respective side of the mesh body portion, and extends longitudinally along the entire length of the improved drywall tape. The pair of said side portions may further comprise an adhesive applied to the backside of the side portions to adhere to the drywall surface to which they are applied, and as a means of further securing the improved drywall tape of the present invention to the drywall in advance of the application of the joint compound/drywall mud.
Moreover, the body portion is comprised of a three dimensional mass of fiberglass mesh (as opposed to a generally flat structure) having a desired thickness, an outboard facing surface, an inboard facing surface and opposed, tapered side surfaces, the general configuration of which substantially fills the valley or trough created when two sheets of drywall are butted up against one another during the installation process due to the presence of the tapered factory edges. In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the inboard surface of the mesh body portion may further comprise a nipple or slight outward protrusion located approximately midway across the width of the inboard facing surface to fill the void or indentation created by the rounded edges of the two adjacent drywall ends, as explained more fully below. Additionally, the inboard facing surface of the mesh body portion may further comprise an adhesive that enables the improved drywall tape of the present invention to better adhere to the surface of the drywall to which it is applied.
Once installed, the side portions of the improved drywall tape of the present invention will overlay/feather into the outward and non-tapered surface of the drywall sheets where the same may receive a skim coat of drywall mud/joint compound to conceal their attachment to the drywall. Further, after the improved drywall tape is installed in said valley/trough, drywall mud/joint compound can be inserted or forced into the mesh body portion of the improved drywall tape with a device or tool, such as a drywall knife, and permitted to dry, thereby adding additional strength to the fiberglass mesh. Also, inasmuch as the mesh body portion substantially fills the valley or trough created by the edge portions of the two adjacent sheets of drywall, less joint compound/drywall mud is required. Because less joint compound/drywall mud is required, less curing time before said joint compound/drywall mud is ready to be sanded, primered and painted is also required, thereby decreasing the amount of time associated with the drywall installation process and reducing overall costs.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the disclosed innovation are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles disclosed herein can be employed and is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings.
The innovation is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the innovation can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof.
As noted above, there exists a long felt need in the art for an improved drywall tape that overcomes the limitations of prior art drywall tapes. More specifically, there is a long felt need in the art for an improved drywall tape of mesh-based composition that is capable of substantially filling in the valley created by two adjacent drywall tapered factory edges, and that allows the user to utilize less joint compound/drywall mud when applying said tape than is currently needed to apply when using existing paper/mesh-based drywall tape. Further, there is a long felt need in the art for an improved drywall tape that requires less time to properly finish the hung drywall sheets, thereby reducing labor costs and improving overall efficiency of a drywall finishing operation.
Referring initially to the drawings,
Additionally, as best shown in
As previously stated, in prior art drywall constructions, the intersection of the two factory edges or tapered portions 12 is typically covered with a thin, flat strip of prior art drywall paper or woven mesh tape and then several coats of joint compound/drywall mud are applied to the entire valley 18 in successive layers, with intermittent sanding of the same, which is both labor intensive and time consuming. Further, the thicker the void or valley 18 that must be filled in with drywall mud/joint compound, the longer the required drying time before the same can be sanded, primered and painted. Additionally, thicker drywall mud/joint compound areas are prone to cracking, which can be unsightly and require additional finishing. Unfortunately, similar issues exist when two drywall sheets 10 having tapered portions 12 are placed adjacent to one other to form an approximate right angle or inside or outside corner.
To overcome the limitations of prior art drywall tapes, the improved drywall tape 100 of the present invention is comprised of a paper and mesh drywall tape combination that is configured to substantially fill the valley 18, thereby requiring less joint compound/drywall mud and shortened cure periods. More specifically,
Each of end portions 110 is a generally thin and flat elongated structure, and is preferably comprised of a solid paper (i.e., with no openings therein) or paper like material. Further, each of end portions 110 are positioned on and fixedly attached to one end or side of the body portion 120 as best shown in
As best shown in
Similarly, the thickness of body potion 120, as measured between top surface 122 and bottom surface 124, preferably substantially matches the depth of the valley 18 across the two adjacently placed tapered portions 12. For example, the depth of the valley 18 directly above the ends 14 of two abutting sheets of ¼ inch thick drywall sheets 10, as measured from the outward surface of the tapered portion 12 to the outward surface 16 of the drywall sheet 10, is approximately ¼ of an inch. Accordingly, in this particular application, the thickness of body portion 120 at its center or mid width point would preferably be between ⅛ and ⅜ of an inch, and more preferably approximately ¼ of an inch, and then narrow across its width in the direction of end portions 110. More specifically, side portions 125 of body portion 120 are tapered from bottom surface 124 in the direction of end portions 110 to match the general contour of the tapered portion 12 of drywall sheet 10, as best shown in
Similarly,
Notwithstanding any of the forgoing, it is contemplated that the components of improved drywall tape device 100 can by any suitable size, shape, and configuration as is known in the art without affecting the overall concept of the invention, provided that it accomplishes the above stated objectives. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the shape and size of the device 100 and its various components, as show in the FIGS. are for illustrative purposes only, and that many other shapes and sizes of the device 100 are well within the scope of the present disclosure. Although dimensions of the device 100 and its components (i.e., length, width, and height) are important design parameters for good performance, the device 100 and its various components may be any shape or size that ensures optimal performance during use and/or that suits user need and/or preference. By way of example and not limitation, it is contemplated that improved drywall tape 100 may come in different shapes and sizes to accommodate a particular application. For example, one particular size of improved drywall tape 100 may be designed specifically for use with ⅜ inch thick drywall, while a different size of improved drywall tape 100 may be designed specifically for use with ⅝ inch thick drywall.
Having described the general construction of improved drywall tape 100 in just a few examples of its various potential embodiments, its use and usefulness will now be described. More specifically, a user (not shown) desiring to finish a joint or inside corner formed by two adjacently hung sheets of drywall 10 would simply unroll the improved drywall tape 100 from roll 200 and attach the same to the drywall joint such that (a) the mesh body portion 120 substantially fills in the valley 18 created by the factory edge tapered portions 12 of the drywall sheets 10 and (b) each of the end portions 110 are positioned along the outward faces 16 of drywall sheets 10 immediately adjacent to tapered portions 12 and adhered thereto by adhesive 130.
Once improved drywall tape 100 has been applied to the joint created by the adjacently hung drywall sheets 10, a relatively thin coating of joint compound/drywall mud (not shown) can be applied over top of the entire width of improved drywall tape 100 to conceal its attachment to the drywall. Further, as the joint compound/drywall mud is being applied it can be inserted or forced into the openings 128 in the mesh body portion 120 of the improved drywall tape 100 with a device or tool, such as a drywall knife (not shown), and permitted to dry, thereby adding additional strength to the mesh body portion 120 and the joint itself. Also, inasmuch as the mesh body portion 120 substantially fills the valley 18 created by the tapered edge portions 12 of the two adjacent sheets of drywall 10, less joint compound/drywall mud is required. Because less joint compound/drywall mud is required, less curing time before said joint compound/drywall mud is ready to be sanded, primered and painted is also required, thereby decreasing the amount of time associated with the drywall installation process and reducing overall costs.
What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the claimed subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.
The present application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/803,245 filed on Feb. 8, 2019, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62803245 | Feb 2019 | US |
