Patent Application
20160363345
The present disclosure relates to a tool pad and, more specifically, to a heat source pad.
Various types of films and sheet materials are used in the vehicle wrap industry, the automotive paint protection industry, automotive, residential, and commercial tint industries, home décor industry, and several other automotive, sign, and graphics industries. Such films and sheet materials include pressure activated and pressure sensitive adhesive sheet materials as useful and/or decorative coverings of the surfaces of vehicles, indoor and outdoor walls and floors, and many additional textured, smooth, even, or uneven surfaces.
Many sheet materials require heat for installation or application onto a work surface or substrate. An installer may heat the sheet material by directing heat from a heat source, such as a heat gun, blow torch, or other heat-providing tool, toward the substrate. The installer should immediately work the sheet material onto the substrate with their hands or a separate tool after application of heat because many sheet materials cool quickly. For example, one sheet material cools at a rate of approximately 10 degrees per second. After several seconds, the sheet material may no longer be workable.
However, the heat source, particularly a barrel of the heat source, remains at an elevated temperature after application of heat on the sheet material. Therefore, the installer is limited to holding the heat source by a handle or another cooler portion of the heat source while attempting to work the sheet material onto the substrate.
Therefore, there exists a need for a heat source, a heat source pad, and a method of using a heat source that improves the ease with which a user of a heat source may apply heat to a sheet material.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a heat source pad is provided comprising a first portion configured to be positioned on a first side of a barrel of a heat source, a second portion configured to be positioned on a second side of the barrel of the heat source, an outer surface being configured to contact a heat source user, and an inner surface being configured to couple to an outer surface of the barrel of the heat source such that the heat source user holds the barrel of the heat source through contact with the outer surface.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, a heat source for directing heat to a work surface is provided. The heat source comprises a handle, a barrel, an air intake through which air enters the barrel, a pad disposed on the barrel and spaced from the air intake.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of using a heat source is provided. The method comprises providing a heat source having a handle, a barrel, and a pad on the barrel, gripping the handle of the heat source such that heat is directed by a user from the barrel toward a work surface, and positioning the barrel against a surface of the user such that the pad on the barrel contacts the surface of the user.
In accordance with the foregoing summary, the following is a detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, which are considered to be the best modes thereof. The methods and systems herein described are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed.
Reference is now made to
The pad 10 includes a material having a thermal conductivity between 0.005 and 2 watts per meter kelvin in particular embodiments at a temperature between 25 degrees and 225 degrees centigrade. In other embodiments, the pad 10 includes a material having a thermal conductivity between 0.015 and 1 watts per meter kelvin at a temperature between 25 degrees and 225 degrees centigrade. In other embodiments, the pad 10 includes a material having a thermal conductivity between 0.02 and 0.06 watts per meter kelvin at a temperature between 25 degrees and 225 degrees centigrade. In other embodiments, the pad 10 includes a material having a thermal conductivity less than 0.005 watts per meter kelvin or greater than 2 watts per meter kelvin at a temperature between 25 degrees and 225 degrees centigrade.
The pad 10 includes such non-limiting materials as plastic, such as polytetrafluoroethylene or nylon, elastomer such as rubber, one or more types of foam, silicon, composite, wood, metal, and/or leather materials.
The pad 10 in one embodiment is made only from an elastomer foam with an adhesive material on the inner surface 18.
The pad 10 includes a metal portion 28 in one embodiment. The pad 10 includes a formed metal strip as the metal portion 28 in an embodiment. The pad includes a foam encapsulated formed metal strip as the metal portion 28 in an embodiment. The metal portion 28 is resilient and/or compressible in one embodiment and configured to clamp or otherwise compress to attach to a heat source 30, such as a barrel 38 of a heat gun 34, described in further detail below with reference to
Referring now to
The heat source 30 includes the pad 10 disposed on the barrel 38 and spaced from the air intake 44. The air intake 44 of additional embodiments is positioned at any other location of the heat source 30 and is not limited to the location illustrated in
As described above, the pad 10 of one or more embodiments includes the metal portion 28 or an otherwise rigid portion that clamps, grips, wraps, or otherwise partially or completely surrounds or compresses the barrel 38 or other portion of the heat source 30. The pad 10 is coupled to the heat source 30 in one or more embodiments with the assistance of a fastener, an adhesive, or any other joining method or structure known to a person having ordinary skill in the art. The pad 10 is coupled to the heat source 30 in one or more embodiments by being integrally formed with the heat source 30, including being molded or formed into or onto the barrel 38 of the heat gun 34 in one non-limiting example. The metal portion 28 couples to the heat source 30 by compression or clamping of the pad 10 and without the assistance of a fastener, an adhesive, or any other joining method or structure known to a person having ordinary skill in the art in an embodiment. As described above, the metal portion 28 further allows the user 40 to couple the pad 10 and/or the heat source 30 having the pad 10 to a magnetic surface (not shown), thereby improving accessibility. The magnetic surface is a horizontally-extending, a vertically-extending, an upward-facing surface, and/or a downward-facing surface in one or more embodiments.
The pad 10 is soft in an embodiment. The pad 10 is flexible in an embodiment. The pad 10 includes one or more grips or is made from a material, such as an elastomeric foam in one non-limiting embodiment, that is compliant, soft, and/or resilient such that the user 40 may easily hold, grasp, or otherwise secure the heat source 30 with knees, legs, arms, or hands of the user 40 in particular non-limiting examples. Further, the pad 10 provides one or more grips or spacing portions configured to reduce the likelihood that the heat source 30 will slip or otherwise move unintentionally when positioned on a surface.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of using a heat source 30 is provided. The method includes providing the heat source 30 having the handle 36, the barrel 38, and the pad 10 on or adjacent the barrel 38. The method further includes gripping the handle 36 of the heat source 30 such that heat is directed by the user 40 from the barrel 38 toward the work surface 42. The method further includes drawing air into the heat source 30 through the air intake 44 or allowing the heat source 30 to draw air into the heat source 30 through the air intake 44. As explained above, the pad 10 is configured to be spaced from the air intake 44 to minimize, reduce, or prevent restriction to airflow into the air intake 44.
Referring now to
Referring again to
As illustrated in
The embodiments of the present disclosure provide the pad 10, the heat source 30, and the method of using the heat source 30 that allow a user 40, installer, or other person to more quickly, easily, and effectively contact or hold the heat source 30 and/or provide heat to the work surface 42, such as a sheet material being worked onto a substrate in one non-limiting example. In such an example, the user 40 may secure the heat source 30 between the user legs or otherwise against the user's body while the user 40 continues working. The user 40 may then quickly and easily access the heat source 30 to effectively provide heat to the work surface 42 with minimal time, energy, and material loss.
Having shown and described particular embodiments of the disclosure, those skilled in the art will realize that many variations and modifications may be made to affect the described disclosure and still be within the scope of the claimed disclosure. Thus, many of the elements indicated above may be altered or replaced by different elements which will provide the same result and fall within the spirit of the claimed disclosure. It is the intention, therefore, to limit the disclosure only as indicated by the scope of the claims.
This application claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/230,796 filed Jun. 12, 2015, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62230796 | Jun 2015 | US |
