Patent Application
20050081476
This invention pertains to a drywall-trimming accessory, which is made from a polymeric material, and to methods for making the drywall-trimming accessory and/or preparing the drywall-trimming accessory to adhere to a drywall-finishing compound.
Heretofore, it has been known to make various drywall-trimming accessories from various polymeric materials. Thus, it has been known to extrude certain drywall-trimming accessories, such as elongate strips, from polyvinyl chloride, and to mold, as by injection molding, other drywall-trimming accessories, such as two-way and three-way corners, from polystyrene or from acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene. Also, it has been known to form, as by thermoforming, other drywall-trimming accessories, such as ceiling medallions, from suitable polymeric materials.
Numerous examples of such elongate strips, two-way corners, and three-way corners are available commercially from Trim-Tex, Inc. of Lincolnwood, Ill., and are disclosed in its printed and online catalogs and in its patents including U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,797, U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,755, U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,643, U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,845, U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,642, U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,353, U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,179, U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,016, U.S. Pat. No. D412,673, U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,420, U.S. Pat. No. D431,304, U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,259, U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,503, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,571,520, the disclosures of which patents are incorporated herein by reference. Other examples of such elongate strips, two-way corners, and three-way corners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,547, the disclosure of which patent is incorporated herein by reference.
It is understood that many drywall-finishing compounds, which are called “mud” in trade parlance, are formulated to adhere well to fibrous substrates, such as paper faces of drywall panels and paper tapes used to cover joints between drywall panels. Commonly, however, such drywall-finishing compounds tend not to adhere well to polymeric drywall-trimming accessories, unless primers have been applied to areas where drywall-finishing compounds are intended to adhere, unless fibrous materials have been applied to those areas, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,353 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,016, or unless those areas have been provided with striations, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,547, provided with grooves, or abraded, as by sanding.
Heretofore, it has been known to employ staples or other fasteners, sprayed-on or other adhesives, or both to cause polymeric drywall-trimming accessories to adhere to underling drywall panels. Because drywall-finishing compounds tend not to adhere well to polymeric drywall-trimming accessories, so-called “mud setting” techniques, which employ drywall-finishing compounds, rather than sprayed-on or other adhesives, to cause polymeric drywall-trimming accessories to adhere to underling drywall panels are disfavored, unless staples or other fasteners are employed as well.
Heretofore, it has been known to make various other building and trimming products from cellular polymeric materials. An example is AZEK™ beadboard, which is made from cellular polyvinyl chloride and which is sold in standard trim and sheet sizes, for porch ceilings, wainscoting, soffits, and deck/hot tub surrounds, by Compression Polymers Group of Moosic, Pennsylvania. At its cut edges and where such beadboard has been grooved, as by milling, open cells are visible, at least under low-power magnification via a jeweler's or watchmaker's loupe.
This invention provides a drywall-trimming accessory having a flange, which has two expansive surfaces facing oppositely. The drywall-trimming accessory is made from a cellular polymer. At least part of at least one of the expansive surfaces of the flange or of each diverging flange is characterized by open cells of the cellular polymer. Both expansive surfaces of the flange may be similarly characterized. If the flange is one of two diverging flanges, at least part of at least one of the expansive surfaces of each flange or at least part of each expansive surface of each flange may be similarly characterized. In a contemplated installation of the drywall-trimming accessory, the same part of each expansive surface, where characterized by open cells of the polymeric material, is contacted by a drywall-finishing compound, which penetrates said cells.
This invention provides a method for making a drywall-trimming accessory having a flange, which has two expansive surfaces facing oppositely, and/or for preparing the drywall-trimming accessory to adhere to a drywall-finishing compound contacting at least part of at least one of the expansive surfaces of the flange. The drywall-trimming accessory is made from a cellular polymer. A superficial layer is removed from the same part of the same one of the expansive surfaces of the flange or from the same part of each expansive surface of the flange so as to reveal open cells of the cellular polymer. If the flange is one of two diverging flanges, a superficial layer may be thus removed from at least part of at least one of the expansive surfaces of each flange or from at least part of each expansive surface of each flange. In a contemplated installation of the drywall-trimming accessory, the same part of each expansive surface characterized by open cells of the polymeric material is contacted by a drywall-finishing compound, which penetrates said cells.
Preferably, if the drywall-finishing accessory is an elongate strip, the polymeric material is polyvinyl chloride. Preferably, if the drywall-trimming accessory is a two-way or three-way corner, the polymeric material is polystyrene or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene. Where the drywall-finishing material penetrates open cells of the polymeric material at an expansive surface of a flange of the drywall-trimming accessory, the drywall-finishing material tends to adhere well to the expansive surface without any need for primers or fibrous materials to have been applied to areas characterized by said cells or for those areas to have been grooved, striated, or abraded, as by sanding.
As illustrated in
Each flange 30 has two expansive surfaces, namely, an expansive surface 32 that becomes an outer surface of said flange 30 when the drywall-trimming strip 10 is installed and an expansive surface 34 that becomes an inner surface of said flange 30 when the drywall-trimming strip 10 is installed. Each flange 30 has an array of apertures 36, which may be circular holes, as illustrated, or which may be elongate slots, or otherwise shaped apertures.
When the drywall-trimming strip 10 is installed, suitable means, such as staples, a sprayed-on adhesive, or both, are employed to mount the flanges 30 to the drywall panels 40, so that the expansive surfaces 34 of the flanges 30 face and approximate the outer, paper layers 42 of the drywall panels 40. After the flanges have been mounted to the drywall panels 40, a drywall-finishing compound C is applied to the expansive surfaces 32 of the flanges 30, such that some of the drywall-finishing compound C applied thereto penetrates the apertures 36 and adheres well to the outer, paper layers 42 of the drywall panels 40.
The drywall-trimming strip 10 is extruded from a cellular polymeric material, preferably from cellular polyvinyl chloride, which has been injected with a suitable gas so as to become cellular or which has employed a blowing agent to become cellular. Injection with a suitable gas is preferred to employment of a blowing agent. As extruded from a cellular polymeric material, preferably from cellular polyvinyl chloride, the drywall-trimming strip 10 has macroscopically smooth, macroscopically non-porous surfaces, particularly but not exclusively the expansive surfaces 32, 34.
Before the drywall-trimming strip 10 is installed, a superficial layer is removed, as by milling, from each flange 30, on the expansive surface 32 that becomes the outer surface when the drywall-trimming strip 10 is installed, whereby to reveal open cells of the cellular, polymeric material. Said cells are visible, at least under low-power magnification via a jeweler's or watchmaker's loupe. Thus, when the drywall-finishing compound C is applied to the expansive surfaces 32 of the flanges 30, some of the drywall-finishing compound C applied thereto penetrates said cells, whereby the drywall-finishing compound C adheres well to the expansive surfaces 32 of the flanges 30.
Before the drywall-trimming strip 10 is installed, a superficial layer may be also removed, as by milling, from each flange 30, on the expansive surface 34 that becomes the inner surface when the drywall-trimming strip 10 is installed, whereby to reveal open cells of the cellular, polymeric material. Said cells are visible, at least under low-power magnification via a jeweler's or watchmaker's loupe. Thus, in an improvement over so-called “mud setting” techniques known heretofore, if the drywall-finishing compound C is applied to the outer, paper layers 42 of the drywall panels 40, to the expansive surfaces 34 of the flanges 30, or to both, some of the drywall-finishing compound C applied thereto penetrates said cells, whereby the drywall-finishing compound C adheres well to the expansive surfaces 34 of the flanges 30.
As illustrated in
The corner 100 is molded, as by injection molding, from a cellular, polymeric material, such as cellular polystyrene or cellular acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene. As molded therefrom, the corner 100 has macroscopically smooth, macroscopically non-porous surfaces, particularly but not exclusively the expansive surfaces of the flanges 120.
Before the corner 100 is installed, a superficial layer is removed, as by milling, from each flange 120, on the expansive surface 122 that becomes the outer surface of said flange 120 when the corner 100 is installed. Moreover, a superficial layer can be also removed, as by milling, from each flange 120, on the expansive surface that becomes the inner surface of said flange 120 when the corner 100 is installed. Where the superficial layers have been removed, open cells of the cellular, polymeric material are revealed and are visible, at least under low-power magnification via a jeweler's or watchmaker's loupe.
As illustrated in
The corner 200 is molded, as by injection molding, from a cellular, polymeric material, such as cellular polystyrene or cellular acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene. As molded therefrom, the corner 200 has macroscopically smooth, macroscopically non-porous surfaces, particularly but not exclusively the expansive surfaces of the flanges 220, 230.
Before the corner 200 is installed, a superficial layer is removed, as by milling, from each flange 220, 230, on the expansive surface 222, 232, that becomes the outer surface of said flange 220, 230, when the corner 200 is installed. Moreover, a superficial layer can be also removed, as by milling, from each flange 220, 230, on the expansive surface that becomes the inner surface of said flange 220, 230, when the corner 200 is installed. Where the superficial layers have been removed, open cells of the cellular, polymeric material are revealed and are visible, at least under low-power magnification via a jeweler's or watchmaker's loupe.
When either of the corners 100, 200, is installed, whenever a drywall-finishing compound is applied to the expansive surfaces, where the superficial layers have been removed and open cells of the cellular, polymeric material have been revealed, some of the drywall-finishing compound penetrates said cells, whereby the drywall-finishing compound adheres well to those surfaces.
