Patent Application
20110094443
The present invention relates to a masking apparatus for household paint job, and more particularly, a masking apparatus that incorporates a semi-rigid paper substrate material that enables a user to easily align the masking apparatus along an edge of a household painting surface.
The most tedious part of any household paint job is masking properly to create straight lines between surfaces to be painted and adjacent surfaces to be protected. Typically, masking tapes currently available in the market are manufactured on a thin flimsy substrate having characteristics of a thin paper. Because of the thin paper characteristics, the masking tape folds and rolls onto itself and at times is very difficult for the user to mask the edges and corners of the painting area. It is very slow going and frustrating to peel the tape off of a roll and create straight lines delineating the surface to be protected from the surface to be painted. The results can be defective in terms of being able to create straight crisp lines.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.
A representative masking stack having a length and width includes a plurality of masking apparatuses. Each masking apparatus is stacked on top of each other such that the stacked plurality of masking apparatuses have an angled side to easily grasp the edge and remove each masking apparatus from the stack. Each masking apparatus includes polymer coatings on top and bottom sides of the masking apparatus. The masking stack further includes adhesive being applied on the bottom side of each masking apparatus, the adhesive being an acrylic or water based emulsification adhesive formula.
Other apparatus, methods, features, and advantages of the present invention will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional apparatus, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims.
Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Disclosed are apparatuses and methods for a masking apparatus that facilitates painting a household. Referring now in more detail to the figures in which like reference numerals identify corresponding parts,
The removal of each masking apparatus 110 is further facilitated by cutting at least one side of the masking stack 100 at an angle θ (e.g., approximately 67.5 degrees). This allows the user to easily grasp the edge and remove each masking apparatus 110 from the masking stack 100. The masking stack 100 includes a rigid bottom base 150 that serves to maintain a substantially straight structure of the masking stack 100 from the removal of the very first masking apparatus 110 through the consumption of the final masking apparatus 100 in the masking stack 100. This base 150 maintains the overall stiffness of the whole stack 100 which greatly enhances ease of use. The base 150 can be made of, but is not limited to, styrene plastic with a thickness of approximately 0.030 inches. The base 150 can be corona treated on a surface opposite of the masking apparatus 110 so that printing can be placed on the corona treated side of the base 150. The masking stack 100 is further described in relation to
Each masking apparatus 110 further includes a release side incorporating the release agent added to the polymer coating 115 and an adhesive side 120 allowing them to be conveniently packaged and easily removed for using one masking apparatus 110 at a time. Specifically, each masking apparatus 110 includes polymer coatings 115, 120 on respective top and bottom sides of the masking apparatus 110. The top side is coated with a release agent polymer 115 and the bottom side is coated with a matt finish polymer 120 designed to retain adhesive 125. The release agent polymer 115 facilitates easy removal of a single masking apparatus 110 from the masking stack 100 without resulting in curling of the masking apparatus 110. The polymer coatings 115, 120 provide additional protection by preventing any paint from penetrating through the masking apparatus 110.
The matt finish polymer 120 can include, for example, an acrylic coated paper (e.g., NT 186B). The release agent polymer 115 can be coated with a tint or dye to achieve a blue color. The adhesive side 120 can be white which is a removable pressure sensitized self wound boardy paper tape. This paper tape is a moisture resistant polyethylene coated paper having silicone release coating that facilitates unwind and separation of each masking apparatus 110. The adhesive 125 includes an acrylic or water based emulsification adhesive formula that allows the masking apparatus 110 to be removed easily so as not to cause curling to the masking apparatus 110 when the masking apparatus 110 is peeled from the stack 100. The adhesive 125 is designed to remove easily from the top polymer coating 115 of the adjacent masking apparatus while temporarily adhering to the surface to be protected and incorporating an adhesive with substantial and sufficient thickness to create a seal such that the paint does not seep beyond the edge of the masking apparatus 110.
Each masking apparatus 110 has a rectangular shape having ends 145, 150 that are substantially perpendicular to the sides 155, 160 of the masking apparatus 110. The perpendicular edges 145, 150 can be useful during the course of household painting, allowing the user to start or finish at corners that are substantially perpendicular. The semi-rigid substrate 113 can include a cross grain structure which allows the users to easily tear the masking apparatus at a 90 degree angle. These types of tear-offs are common in corner protection type applications.
The length 130 and width 135 of the masking apparatus 110 are designed in a various dimensions, including lengths of approximately 36 inches to 8 to 9 feet and widths of approximately ¾ inch to 6 inches (or even wider) depending on the user's preference. Preferably, the masking apparatus 110 having ¾ inch to 3 inches in width and 36 inches in length is used for paint surface corners and edges.
Alternatively or additionally, the masking apparatus 110 having widths and lengths greater than 2 inches and 36 inches can be used to facilitate painting stripes on walls. The wall striping masking apparatus 110 can be made in rolls, such as that shown in
Preferably, a wall is masked with parallel and equidistant masking apparatus' after which the entire surface can be painted easily with a roller; while the apparatus protects the surfaces lying beneath each apparatus. After the paint has dried, the masking apparatuses can be removed. If a different color is desired over the masked area, the striping masking apparatuses are placed over the dried paint and a second coat of paint can be applied to create a two tone finish. Alternatively, if desired, the user could paint any number of colors between each masking apparatus to create a wall of multiple color stripes.
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly, any “preferred” embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims.
