The present invention is directed to a device and method for using the device for locating vertical wall penetration features at a height generally accessible only by ladder or scaffold and translating those features to drywall or sheeting material at a lower elevation. Features such as conduits, mechanical penetrations, cutoffs and vent holes which must be cut from drywall or sheeting material when applied to vertical walls expressing those features can be scribed onto drywall or sheeting material at lower elevations and cut at those elevations thus reducing labor cost by reducing the time devoted to the installation process and the risk of injury associated with the installation of drywall or sheeting material at elevations above those readily accessible without the use of a ladder or scaffold to obtain those wall penetration measurements.
The application of drywall board or sheeting material to wall framing stud members is a standard element of commercial and residential construction having been carried out for many years Under normal circumstances, the drywall board or sheeting material is applied to wall framing stud members after the insulation, plumbing, heating, air conditioning and electrical connections have been completed. The drywall board or sheeting material is nailed or screwed to wall flaming stud members and later seams are taped and the surface “mudded” which, upon sanding and finishing, creates an interior wall ready for painting or other finishing.
In instances in which a vertical wall is free of conduit or vent openings, the above-described application process is carried out quickly both at floor level and at elevations, the latter requiring ladders and scaffold The drywall or sheeting material is generally applied board-by-board at four foot elevations until the entire vertical wall has been covered. The installation process, however, becomes much more complex when conduits, plumbing and heating penetrations and vent openings are to pass through the to-be applied drywall or sheeting material. Generally, this is accomplished as a two man procedure One man is on a scaffold taking measurements of the penetrations through the wall and calling them out to the man on the floor with the material to be installed at the higher elevations after he marks and cuts out the penetrations. This process is labor intensive because the man on the scaffold must first call out measurements while the man on the floor with the material waits only to then cut out the penetrations in the material to be applied at the higher elevation. After the bottom man cuts the sheet material to be applied at the higher elevation, he passes the material to the man on the scaffold for him to install The man on the bottom then stands and waits for the man on the scaffold to install the material and when the installation is complete, the scaffold is moved and the whole measurement and cutting process starts over again. During this installation process one man is constantly waiting for the other man to complete his work. He is left standing with no constructive work to do until the other man has completed his work.
In order to complete this method of penetration measurement and sheeting material installation a scaffold must be erected according to Federal and O.S.H.A. requirements to obtain the penetration measurements and prepare the material to be installed, and then install the material. This is a two man process. The above described process makes the drywall board or sheeting material installation a tedious time consuming and labor intensive process and one which is fraught with potential injury.
It is thus proposed through the present invention that one can transcribe and cut features such as electrical and mechanical penetrations and sheet cutoffs onto drywall board and sheeting material at proximate floor level without the aid of scaffolding in order to prepare the sheeting material for future installation. These and further objects will be more readily apparent when considering the following disclosure and appended claims.
The present invention involves a device for locating vertical wall features and for translating said features onto drywall board or sheeting material to be placed onto said vertical wall comprising a main body, said main body having a top edge, a bottom edge and at least one channel, said at least one channel being substantially perpendicular to said bottom edge, a rail having first and second terminal ends sized to be slidably and selectively retained within said at least one channel, a lock for selectively preventing sliding of said rail within said channel, said rail being of a length such that as said first terminal end of said rail locates said features, the second terminal end of said rail translates the position of said features onto drywall board or sheeting material to be later placed upon said vertical wall proximate said features.
The invention further involves a method of locating vertical wall features and for translating said features onto drywall board or sheeting material to be placed onto said vertical wall comprising providing a device, said device comprising a main body, said main body having a top edge, a bottom edge and at least one channel, said at least one channel being substantially perpendicular to said bottom edge, a rail having first and second terminal ends sized to be slidably and selectively retained within said at least one channel, a lock for selectively preventing sliding of said rail within said channel, said rail being of a length such that as said first terminal end of said rail locates said features, the second terminal end of said rail translates the position of said features onto drywall board and sheeting material to be later placed upon said vertical wall proximate said features, applying said main body to said vertical wall, extending said rail until said first terminal end is positioned at an edge of one of said vertical wall features and translating said position at a location established by the second terminal end of said rail.
This device includes clips that insert into ends of sliding rails that locate top measurements of penetrations and accessories to enable location of tool placement for selective measurement requirements and installation and adjustable attachments for complex measurement conditions.
a and 2b are side views of the device depicted in
a through 3e and 3g illustrate side plan views of walls for showing the steps of the method of using the present invention
f depicts drywall board or sheeting material fabricate by using the method as illustrated in
The device of the present invention can best be appreciated by reference to
An important design consideration of the present invention is that channel 13 be perpendicular to bottom edge 15a so that once bottom edge 15a is secured to a horizontal ledge or lip, rail 20 is selectively slidable within channel 13 and moves in a substantially vertical orientation Rail 20 can be provided with extension pieces 21 (
Rail 20 is provided with terminal ends 25 and 26 and, as noted above, is to be slidable and selectively retained within channel 13. Ideally, rail 20 can be fixed within channel 13 by using one of a number of simple locking devices for this purpose. One such device is illustrated in
Turning to
As noted above, it is the intent of the present invention to enable a drywall or sheeting material installer to measure and cut drywall board or sheeting material to accommodate various features such as conduit opening 31 and vent opening 32 and without the use of the present invention, require the multi-step process of erecting a scaffold, using two employees (one on the scaffold and one on the existing floor), measuring and verbally transferring the wall penetrations and cutoffs from the man at the higher elevation to the man at the lower elevation, cutting and preparing the material to be installed by the man at the lower elevation, and the removal and the relocation of the scaffold necessary to complete this process. This multi-step process is time consuming and labor intensive and will be reduced when employing the device disclosed herein. In some conditions the final prepared product could be installed with the use of a ladder by a single employee.
In this regard, reference is made to
In turning to
The next step in the operation is to lightly tack a second layer of material identified as drywall board 37 in front of drywall board 35 (
By way of example, the present device is employed to establish the size and position of conduit opening 31 without having to climb to conduit 31's elevated position. This is done by placing body 11 of device 10 in front of drywall board 36 onto edge 33 as shown in
Although not shown, drywall board 37 can then be placed at an elevated position onto wall 30 in an area occupied by conduit opening 31 as accommodating conduit opening 31 through opening 50 therein without having to employ the labor intensive two man process of taking and transferring measurements and cutoffs from a scaffold to the floor level in order to prepare the material for the installation process.
The same method of using the present device can be carried out in providing an opening in drywall board or sheeting material for any feature including vent opening 32 shown on sheet
On occasion, particular in dealing with square or rectangular openings, it is helpful to provide L-shaped brackets 48 and 49 as illustrated in
Upon consideration of the above disclosure, it should become readily apparent that through the use of what amounts to relatively simple yet elegant device, one is able to scribe and cut openings in drywall board and sheeting material at relatively low elevations thus minimizing the need to erect a scaffold and engage the two man process of measuring, cutting and installation of the drywall or sheet material. In addition, what has traditionally been a two man operation can be done with a single worker. The necessary penetration openings are made at ground level and installation at elevated positions can be accomplished in the way where installation time is reduced and the time consuming transferring of measurements and prolonged use of scaffold is reduced to a minimum or completely eliminated, depending on conditions, by one man using a tall ladder for installation of the smaller pieces of the prepared material. Thus, drywall board or sheeting material installation, through the present invention, is much faster, safer and less costly to install than in the past.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20110047806 A1 | Mar 2011 | US |